  The compound IrTe2 is known to exhibit a transition to a modulated state
featuring Ir-Ir dimers, with large associated atomic displacements. Partial
substitution of Pt or Rh for Ir destabilizes the modulated structure and
induces superconductivity. It has been proposed that quantum critical dimer
fluctuations might be associated with the superconductivity. Here we test for
such local dimer correlations and demonstrate their absence. X-ray pair
distribution function approach reveals that the local structure of
Ir0.95Pt0.05Te2 and Ir0.8Rh0.2Te2 dichalcogenide superconductors with
compositions just past the dimer/superconductor boundary is explained well by a
dimer-free model down to 10 K, ruling out the possibility of there being
nanoscale dimer fluctuations in this regime. This is inconsistent with the
proposed quantum-critical-point-like interplay of the dimer state and
