High-temperature charge density wave correlations in La1.875Ba0.125CuO4without spin–charge locking

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Abstract

Charge correlations have now been identified in the low-temperature phase of essentially all families of underdoped cuprates, but in two apparently distinct types. The first hosts locked charge and spin stripes of which the material La 1.875Ba 0.125CuO 4 (LBCO <math id="i7" overflow="scroll"> <mrow> <mn>1</mn> <mo>/</mo> <mn>8</mn> </mrow> </math> ) is a paradigmatic example. In the second type, a charge density wave (CDW) exists without any obviously related spin correlations. Here we report the discovery of high-temperature CDW correlations that exist at temperatures above the CDW transition in the canonical striped cuprate LBCO <math id="i8" overflow="scroll"> <mrow> <mn>1</mn> <mo>/</mo> <mn>8</mn> </mrow> </math> . We find that the high-temperature CDW is decoupled from the fluctuating spin density wave, lessening apparent differences in behavior among different materials and setting important constraints for how we understand their electronic states. Although all superconducting cuprates display charge-ordering tendencies, their low-temperature properties are distinct, impeding efforts to understand the phenomena within a single conceptual framework. While some systems exhibit stripes of charge and spin, with a locked periodicity, others host charge density waves (CDWs) without any obviously related spin order. Here we use resonant inelastic X-ray scattering to follow the evolution of charge correlations in the canonical stripe-ordered cuprate La 1.875Ba 0.125CuO 4 across its ordering transition. We find that high-temperature charge correlations are unlocked from the wavevector of the spin correlations, signaling analogies to CDW phases in various other cuprates. This indicates that stripe order at low temperatures is stabilized by the coupling of otherwise independent charge and spin density waves, with important implications for the relation between charge and spin correlations in the cuprates.

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From quantum matter to high-temperature superconductivity in copper oxides.

B. Keimer, S A Kivelson, M. R. Norman … (2015)

The discovery of high-temperature superconductivity in the copper oxides in 1986 triggered a huge amount of innovative scientific inquiry. In the almost three decades since, much has been learned about the novel forms of quantum matter that are exhibited in these strongly correlated electron systems. A qualitative understanding of the nature of the superconducting state itself has been achieved. However, unresolved issues include the astonishing complexity of the phase diagram, the unprecedented prominence of various forms of collective fluctuations, and the simplicity and insensitivity to material details of the 'normal' state at elevated temperatures.