Three-dimensional charge density wave order in YBa2Cu3O6.67 at high magnetic fields

Abstract

Charge density wave (CDW) correlations have been shown to universally exist in cuprate superconductors. However, their nature at high fields inferred from nuclear magnetic resonance is distinct from that measured with x-ray scattering at zero and low fields. We combined a pulsed magnet with an x-ray free-electron laser to characterize the CDW in YBa2Cu3O6.67 via x-ray scattering in fields of up to 28 tesla. While the zero-field CDW order, which develops at temperatures below ~150 kelvin, is essentially two dimensional, at lower temperature and beyond 15 tesla, another three-dimensionally ordered CDW emerges. The field-induced CDW appears around the zero-field superconducting transition temperature; in contrast, the incommensurate in-plane ordering vector is field-independent. This implies that the two forms of CDW and high-temperature superconductivity are intimately linked.