Electronic structure of ZrTe₃

The Fermi surface topology of the layered superconducting charge density wave compound ZrTe₃ is investigated by angle resolved photoelectron spectroscopy and density functional theory. The Fermi surface is dominated by bands originating from two perpendicular systems of quasi one-dimensional chains. Nesting and opening of a pseudogap at temperatures as high as 250 K are signatures of a Peierls transition in one of these chains. The nesting properties are also studied for high pressure simulated crystal structure.