Inhomogeneity of charge-density-wave order and quenched disorder in a high-Tc superconductor

Campi, G.; Barba, L.; Bianconi, G.; Innocenti, D.; Poccia, N.; Burghammer, M.; Sprung, M.; Kazakov, S. M.; Bianconi, A.; von Zimmermann, Martin; Arrighetti, G.; Ricci, A.; Zhigadlo, N. D.; Karpinski, J.

doi:10.1038/nature14987

Journal Article

PUBDB-2015-05519

Inhomogeneity of charge-density-wave order and quenched disorder in a high-Tc superconductor

Campi, G. ; Bianconi, A. (Corresponding author)>Extern* ; Poccia, N.>Extern* ; Bianconi, G. ; Barba, L. ; Arrighetti, G. ; Innocenti, D.>Extern* ; Karpinski, J. ; Zhigadlo, N. D. ; Kazakov, S. M. ; Burghammer, M. ; von Zimmermann, M.DESY* ; Sprung, M.DESY* ; Ricci, A.DESY*

2015
Macmillan28177 London

Nature 525(7569), 359 - 362 (2015) [10.1038/nature14987]

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Please use a persistent id in citations: doi:10.1038/nature14987

Abstract: It has recently been established that the high-transition-temperature (high-Tc) superconducting state coexists with short-range charge-density-wave order and quenched disorder arising from dopants and strain. This complex, multiscale phase separation invites the development of theories of high-temperature superconductivity that include complexity. The nature of the spatial interplay between charge and dopant order that provides a basis for nanoscale phase separation remains a key open question, because experiments have yet to probe the unknown spatial distribution at both the nanoscale and mesoscale (between atomic and macroscopic scale). Here we report micro X-ray diffraction imaging of the spatial distribution of both short-range charge-density-wave ‘puddles’ (domains with only a few wavelengths) and quenched disorder in HgBa${_2}$CuO${_4+y}$, the single-layer cuprate with the highest T${_c}$, 95 kelvin. We found that the charge-density-wave puddles, like the steam bubbles in boiling water, have a fat-tailed size distribution that is typical of self-organization near a critical point. However, the quenched disorder, which arises from oxygen interstitials, has a distribution that is contrary to the usually assumed random, uncorrelated distribution. The interstitial-oxygen-rich domains are spatially anticorrelated with the charge-density-wave domains, because higher doping does not favour the stripy charge-density-wave puddles, leading to a complex emergent geometry of the spatial landscape for superconductivity.

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