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Song CL, Main EJ, Simmons F, Liu S, Phillabaum B, Dahmen KA, Hudson EW, Hoffman JE, Carlson EW. Critical nematic correlations throughout the superconducting doping range in Bi 2-zPb zSr 2-yLa yCuO 6+x. Nat Commun 2023; 14:2622. [PMID: 37147296 PMCID: PMC10162959 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-023-38249-3] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/02/2022] [Accepted: 04/17/2023] [Indexed: 05/07/2023] Open
Abstract
Charge modulations have been widely observed in cuprates, suggesting their centrality for understanding the high-Tc superconductivity in these materials. However, the dimensionality of these modulations remains controversial, including whether their wavevector is unidirectional or bidirectional, and also whether they extend seamlessly from the surface of the material into the bulk. Material disorder presents severe challenges to understanding the charge modulations through bulk scattering techniques. We use a local technique, scanning tunneling microscopy, to image the static charge modulations on Bi2-zPbzSr2-yLayCuO6+x. The ratio of the phase correlation length ξCDW to the orientation correlation length ξorient points to unidirectional charge modulations. By computing new critical exponents at free surfaces including that of the pair connectivity correlation function, we show that these locally 1D charge modulations are actually a bulk effect resulting from classical 3D criticality of the random field Ising model throughout the entire superconducting doping range.
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Affiliation(s)
- Can-Li Song
- Department of Physics, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, 02138, USA
| | - Elizabeth J Main
- Department of Physics, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, 02138, USA
| | - Forrest Simmons
- Department of Physics and Astronomy, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN, 47907, USA
- Purdue Quantum Science and Engineering Institute, West Lafayette, IN, 47907, USA
| | - Shuo Liu
- Department of Physics and Astronomy, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN, 47907, USA
| | - Benjamin Phillabaum
- Department of Physics and Astronomy, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN, 47907, USA
| | - Karin A Dahmen
- Department of Physics, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, IL, 61801, USA
| | - Eric W Hudson
- Department of Physics, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA, 16802, USA
| | | | - Erica W Carlson
- Department of Physics and Astronomy, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN, 47907, USA.
- Purdue Quantum Science and Engineering Institute, West Lafayette, IN, 47907, USA.
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Nanoscale Phase Separation of Incommensurate and Quasi-Commensurate Spin Stripes in Low Temperature Spin Glass of La2−xSrxNiO4. CONDENSED MATTER 2021. [DOI: 10.3390/condmat6040045] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/16/2022]
Abstract
While spin striped phases in La2−xSrxNiO4+y for 0.25 < x < 0.33 are the archetypal case of a 1D spin density wave (SDW) phase in doped antiferromagnetic strongly correlated perovskites, few information is available on the SDW spatial organization. In this context, we have measured the spatial variation of the wave vector of the SDW reflection profile by scanning micro X-ray diffractions with a coherent beam. We obtained evidence of a SDW order–disorder transition by lowering a high temperature phase (T > 50 K) to a low temperature phase (T < 50 K). We have identified quasi-commensurate spin stripe puddles in the ordered phase at 50 < T < 70 K, while the low temperature spin glassy phase presents a nanoscale phase separation of T = 30 K, with the coexistence of quasi-commensurate and incommensurate spin stripe puddles assigned to the interplay of quantum frustration and strong electronic correlations.
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