Recent observations of broken symmetries have partly demystified the pseudogap phase. Here we review evidence for long-range intra-unit-cell(IUC) nematic order and its unexpectedly strong coupling to the phase of the fluctuating stripes in the pseudogap states of underdoped Bi2Sr2CaCu2O8+δ. In particular, we focus on the analysis techniques that reveal this evidence in scanning tunneling spectroscopy data, the definition of the extracted IUC nematic order parameter, and a phenomenological theory of the coupling between the IUC nematic order and the previously reported coexisting fluctuating stripes. We also present a microscopic mechanism of IUC nematic order driven by on-site and near-neighbor repulsions. Finally we discuss open questions in the context of these results.
@article{arxiv.1205.6408,
title = {Electronic Liquid Crystal Physics of Underdoped Cuprates},
author = {Eun-Ah Kim and Michael J. Lawler},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:1205.6408},
year = {2015}
}
Comments
26 pages, 10 figures. To be published in Physica C