Spatial inhomogeneity and planar symmetry breaking of the lattice incommensurate supermodulation in the high-temperature superconductor Bi2Sr2CaCu

Abstract

One of the emerging common features of high temperature superconductors (HTSs) is the intrinsic lattice inhomogeneity [1-4] but it remains practically unknown because of the lack of methods probing both the k-space and the real space from nano-scale to micronscale. The intrinsic lattice inhomogeneity is related with the co-existence of two or more electronic components showing a nanoscale phase separation in the normal phase [3][4]. In fact two strongly correlated electronic components at the Fermi level are expected to exhibit a phase separation between two electronic phases with different charge density [5]. The low density phase is close to the Wigner localization limit in the normal phase and below T c forms a Bose-like condensate or a bipolaronic condensate in presence of electron-lattice interaction [6,7]. The high density phase forms a BCS condensate below T c , therefore the HTS phase appears to be at the BCS-Bose crossover in a multi-gap superconductor [6,7].

Intrinsic arrested nanoscale phase separation near a topological Lifshitz transition in strongly correlated two-band metals

“…[83][84][85] and now it is used in a more general context. 86,87 We believe that the word "arrested" is more adequate here and prefer to use it.…”

Optimum inhomogeneity of local lattice distortions in La 2 CuO 4+ y

“…In several doped cuprates, they yield a characteristic incommensurate superstructure with the specific wavevector 0.21bà (38)(39)(40)(41)(42)(43)(44)(45)(46). Recent scanning tunneling microscopy work has clearly shown that the local lattice distortions of the CuO 2 plane induce a spatial modulation of the gap (11).…”

“…Recent scanning tunneling microscopy work has clearly shown that the local lattice distortions of the CuO 2 plane induce a spatial modulation of the gap (11). The incommensurately modulated local lattice distortions (LLD) are a type of static charge density wave (CDW) established in nanoscale regions, whose size is indicated by the widths of diffuse X-ray satellites (37)(38)(39)(40)(41)(42)(43)(44)(45). Here we use X-ray microscopy to show that for the cuprate superconductor, La 2 CuO 4þy , the dominant features of the embedding glue regions, where interstitials are disordered, are optimally ordered arrays of tilt defects of the copper-centered oxygen plaquets, which are the fundamental building blocks of the cuprates.…”

Two-Dimensional Nanogranularity of the Oxygen Chains in the YBa2Cu3O6.33 Superconductor

“…More specifically, for example, microbeams have been used for mapping weak diffuse scattering in the real space in Scanning micro X Ray Diffraction (SµXRD) measurements. The collected data, treated by spatial statistical tools, have shown the formation of fractal patterns of interstitial oxygens ordered domains in LCO [21], intrinsic phase separation in doped iron-chalcogenides [22,23] and planar symmetry breaking in Bismuthates [24]. More recently, it's has been demonstrated that the quenched disorder due to dopants is spatially anticorrelated with electronic textures and/or local lattice distortions in Hg1201 [12,13] and LCO [25].…”