We report a comprehensive Cu L3-edge resonant x-ray scattering study of two- and three-dimensional (2D and 3D) incommensurate charge correlations in single crystals of the underdoped high-temperature superconductor YBa2Cu3O6.67 under uniaxial compression up to 1% along the two inequivalent Cu-O-Cu bond directions (a and b) in the CuO2 planes. The pressure response of the 2D charge correlations is symmetric: pressure along a enhances correlations along b, and vice versa. Our results imply that the underlying order parameter is uniaxial. In contrast, 3D long-range charge order is only observed along b in response to compression along a. Spectroscopic resonant x-ray scattering measurements show that the 3D charge order resides exclusively in the CuO2 planes and may thus be generic to the cuprates. We discuss implications of these results for models of electronic nematicity and for the interplay between charge order and superconductivity.
@article{arxiv.2009.00928,
title = {Charge density waves in YBa$_2$Cu$_3$O$_{6.67}$ probed by resonant x-ray scattering under uniaxial compression},
author = {H. -H. Kim and E. Lefrançois and K. Kummer and R. Fumagalli and N. B. Brookes and D. Betto and S. Nakata and M. Tortora and J. Porras and T. Loew and M. Barber and L. Braicovich and A. P. Mackenzie and C. W. Hicks and B. Keimer and M. Minola and M. Le Tacon},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2009.00928},
year = {2022}
}
Comments
Revised version - Accepted for publication in Phys. Rev. Lett