Suppression of the commensurate spin-Peierls state in Sc-doped Ti1−xScxOCl (x=0.0, 0.01, and 0.03)

We have performed x-ray scattering measurements on single crystals of the doped spin-Peierls compound Ti1−xScxOCl (x=0,0.01,0.03). These measurements reveal that the presence of nonmagnetic dopants has a profound effect on the unconventional spin-Peierls behavior of this system, even at concentrations as low as 1%. Sc doping suppresses commensurate fluctuations in the pseudogap and incommensurate spin-Peierls phases of TiOCl and prevents the …