We report temperature-dependent transport and x-ray diffraction measurements of the influence of Ti hole doping on the charge density wave (CDW) in $1T\text{−}{\mathrm{Ta}}_{1-x}{\mathrm{Ti}}_x{\mathrm{S}}_2$. Confirming past studies, we find that even trace impurities eliminate the low-temperature commensurate (C) phase in this system. Surprisingly, the magnitude of the in-plane component of the CDW wave vector in the nearly commensurate (NC) phase does not change significantly with Ti concentration, as might be expected from a changing Fermi surface volume. Instead, the angle of the CDW in the basal plane rotates, from $11.9{}^{\circ }$ at $x=0$ to $16.4{}^{\circ }$ at $x=0.12$. Ti substitution also leads to an extended region of coexistence between incommensurate (IC) and NC phases, indicating heterogeneous nucleation near the transition. Finally, we explain a resistive anomaly originally observed by Di Salvo [F. J. Di Salvo et al., Phys. Rev. B 12, 2220 (1975)] as arising from pinning of the CDW on the crystal lattice. Our study highlights the importance of commensuration effects in the NC phase, particularly at $x\sim 0.08$.

• Received 19 November 2014
• Revised 21 May 2015

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevB.91.245113