CDWs

Charge density waves

Charge density waves (CDWs) are periodic modulations in the electronic density of states and represent a ubiquitous form of symmetry breaking in strongly correlated metals including cuprates, nickelates, and related materials. CDW correlations extend across surprisingly wide ranges of temperature and doping and interact strongly with superconductivity and the anomalous transport properties of strange metals. RIXS offers exceptional sensitivity to weak CDW correlations and can resolve low-energy CDW collective excitations and their coupling to phonons. We use RIXS to determine the key interactions driving CDW formation—including the role of electron-phonon coupling and electronic correlations—and we study CDW domain formation and dynamics using coherent x-ray scattering techniques.

Figure 1: An illustration of measuring collective CDW excitations with RIXS taken from our recent paper H. Miao et al., PRX 9, 031042 (2019).

References

2026

Lattice-Charge Coupling in a Trilayer Nickelate with Intertwined Density Wave Order

Xun Jia, Yao Shen, Harrison LaBollita, Xinglong Chen, Junjie Zhang, Yu Li, Hengdi Zhao, Mercouri G. Kanatzidis, Matthew Krogstad, Hong Zheng, Ayman H. Said, Ahmet Alatas, Stephan Rosenkranz, Daniel Phelan, Mark P. M. Dean, M. R. Norman, J. F. Mitchell, Antia S. Botana, and Yue Cao

Phys. Rev. X 16, 011013 (2026)

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Intertwined charge and spin correlations are ubiquitous in a wide range of transition metal oxides and are often perceived as intimately related to unconventional superconductivity. Theoretically envisioned as driven by strong electronic correlations, the intertwined order is usually found to be strongly coupled to the lattice as signaled by pronounced phonon softening. Recently, both charge and spin density waves (CDW and SDW) and superconductivity have been discovered in several Ruddlesden-Popper (RP) nickelates, in particular trilayer nickelates RE₄Ni₃O₁₀ (RE = Pr, La). The nature of the intertwined order and the role of lattice-charge coupling are at the heart of the debate about these materials. Using inelastic x-ray scattering, we mapped the low-energy phonon dispersions in RE₄Ni₃O₁₀ and found no evidence of softening near the CDW wave vector over a wide temperature range, which contrasts with the pronounced anomalies frequently observed in cuprate superconductors. Calculations of the electronic susceptibility revealed a peak at the observed SDW ordering vector but not at the CDW wave vector. Our experimental and theoretical findings highlight the crucial role of the spin degree of freedom and establish a foundation for understanding the interplay between superconductivity and density-wave transitions in RP nickelate superconductors and beyond.
@article{jia2026lattice, title = {Lattice-Charge Coupling in a Trilayer Nickelate with Intertwined Density Wave Order}, author = {Jia, Xun and Shen, Yao and LaBollita, Harrison and Chen, Xinglong and Zhang, Junjie and Li, Yu and Zhao, Hengdi and Kanatzidis, Mercouri G. and Krogstad, Matthew and Zheng, Hong and Said, Ayman H. and Alatas, Ahmet and Rosenkranz, Stephan and Phelan, Daniel and Dean, Mark P. M. and Norman, M. R. and Mitchell, J. F. and Botana, Antia S. and Cao, Yue}, journal = {Phys. Rev. X}, volume = {16}, issue = {1}, pages = {011013}, numpages = {9}, year = {2026}, month = jan, publisher = {American Physical Society}, doi = {10.1103/s5j9-cbg7}, url = {https://link.aps.org/doi/10.1103/s5j9-cbg7} }

2023

Electronic Character of Charge Order in Square-Planar Low-Valence Nickelates

Y. Shen, J. Sears, G. Fabbris, J. Li, J. Pelliciari, M. Mitrano, W. He, Junjie Zhang, J. F. Mitchell, V. Bisogni, M. R. Norman, S. Johnston, and M. P. M. Dean

Phys. Rev. X 13, 011021 (2023)

[BNL Press Release]

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Charge order is a central feature of the physics of cuprate superconductors and is known to arise from a modulation of holes with primarily oxygen character. Low-valence nickelate superconductors also host charge order, but the electronic character of this symmetry breaking is unsettled. Here, using resonant inelastic x-ray scattering at the Ni L₂-edge, we identify intertwined involvements of Ni 3d_x^2-y^2, 3d_3z^2-r^2, and O 2p_σ orbitals in the formation of diagonal charge order in an overdoped low-valence nickelate \La438. The Ni 3d_x^2-y^2 orbitals, strongly hybridized with planar O 2p_σ, largely shape the spatial charge distribution and lead to Ni site-centered charge order. The 3d_3z^2-r^2 orbitals play a small, but non-negligible role in the charge order as they hybridize with the rare-earth 5d orbitals. Our results reveal that the low-energy physics and ground-state character of these nickelates are more complex than those in cuprates.
@article{shen2023electronic, dimensions = {true}, title = {Electronic Character of Charge Order in Square-Planar Low-Valence Nickelates}, author = {Shen, Y. and Sears, J. and Fabbris, G. and Li, J. and Pelliciari, J. and Mitrano, M. and He, W. and Zhang, Junjie and Mitchell, J. F. and Bisogni, V. and Norman, M. R. and Johnston, S. and Dean, M. P. M.}, journal = {Phys. Rev. X}, volume = {13}, issue = {1}, pages = {011021}, numpages = {9}, year = {2023}, month = feb, publisher = {American Physical Society}, doi = {10.1103/PhysRevX.13.011021}, url = {https://link.aps.org/doi/10.1103/PhysRevX.13.011021}, note = {[<a href="https://www.bnl.gov/newsroom/news.php?a=221189" target="_blank">BNL Press Release</a>]} }

2022

Waves divide the Fermi sea

Mark P. M. Dean

Nature Physics 18, 379–380 (2022)

Abs DOI Bib PDF

@article{dean2022waves,
  dimensions = {true},
  nosupp = {},
  author = {Dean, Mark P. M.},
  title = {<strong>Waves divide the Fermi sea</strong>},
  journal = {Nature Physics},
  year = {2022},
  volume = {18},
  number = {4},
  pages = {379--380},
  month = feb,
  day = {18},
  issn = {1745-2481},
  doi = {10.1038/s41567-022-01526-x},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.1038/s41567-022-01526-x}
}

2021

Real Space Imaging of Spin Stripe Domain Fluctuations in a Complex Oxide

Longlong Wu, Yao Shen, Andi M. Barbour, Wei Wang, Dharmalingam Prabhakaran, Andrew T. Boothroyd, Claudio Mazzoli, John M. Tranquada, Mark P. M. Dean, and Ian K. Robinson

Phys. Rev. Lett. 127, 275301 (2021)

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Understanding the formation and dynamics of charge and spin-ordered states in low-dimensional transition metal oxide materials is crucial to understanding unconventional high-temperature superconductivity. La_2−xSr_xNiO_4+δ (LSNO) has attracted much attention due to its interesting spin dynamics. Recent x-ray photon correlation spectroscopy studies have revealed slow dynamics of the spin order (SO) stripes in LSNO. Here, we applied resonant soft x-ray ptychography to map the spatial distribution of the SO stripe domain inhomogeneity in real space. The reconstructed images show the SO domains are spatially anisotropic, in agreement with previous diffraction studies. For the SO stripe domains, it is found that the correlation lengths along different directions are strongly coupled in space. Surprisingly, fluctuations were observed in the real space amplitude signal, rather than the phase or position. We attribute the observed slow dynamics of the stripe domains in LSNO to thermal fluctuations of the SO domain boundaries.
@article{wu2021real, dimensions = {true}, title = {Real Space Imaging of Spin Stripe Domain Fluctuations in a Complex Oxide}, author = {Wu, Longlong and Shen, Yao and Barbour, Andi M. and Wang, Wei and Prabhakaran, Dharmalingam and Boothroyd, Andrew T. and Mazzoli, Claudio and Tranquada, John M. and Dean, Mark P. M. and Robinson, Ian K.}, journal = {Phys. Rev. Lett.}, year = {2021}, volume = {127}, pages = {275301}, doi = {10.1103/PhysRevLett.127.275301} }
Probing electron-phonon interactions away from the Fermi level with resonant inelastic x-ray scattering

C. D. Dashwood, A. Geondzhian, J. G. Vale, A. C. Pakpour-Tabrizi, C. A. Howard, Q. Faure, L. S. I. Veiga, D. Meyers, S. G. Chiuzbaian, A. Nicolaou, N. Jaouen, R. B. Jackman, A. Nag, M. Garcia-Fernandez, Ke-Jin Zhou, A. C. Walters, K. Gilmore, D. F. McMorrow, and M. P. M. Dean

Phys. Rev. X 11, 041052 (2021)

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Interactions between electrons and lattice vibrations are responsible for a wide range of material properties and applications. Recently, there has been considerable interest in the development of resonant inelastic x-ray scattering (RIXS) as a tool for measuring electron-phonon (e-ph) interactions. Here, we demonstrate the ability of RIXS to probe the interaction between phonons and specific electronic states both near to, and away from, the Fermi level. We perform carbon K-edge RIXS measurements on graphite, tuning the incident x-ray energy to separately probe the interactions of the π and σ electronic states. Our high-resolution data reveal detailed structure in the multiphonon RIXS features that directly encodes the momentum dependence of the e-ph interaction strength. We develop a Green’s-function method to model this structure, which naturally accounts for the phonon and interaction-strength dispersions, as well as the mixing of phonon momenta in the intermediate state. This model shows that the differences between the spectra can be fully explained by contrasting trends of the e-ph interaction through the Brillouin zone, being concentrated at the Γ and K points for the π states while being significant at all momenta for the σ states. Our results advance the interpretation of phonon excitations in RIXS and extend its applicability as a probe of e-ph interactions to a new range of out-of-equilibrium situations.
@article{dashwood2021probing, dimensions = {true}, title = {Probing electron-phonon interactions away from the Fermi level with resonant inelastic x-ray scattering}, author = {Dashwood, C. D. and Geondzhian, A. and Vale, J. G. and Pakpour-Tabrizi, A. C. and Howard, C. A. and Faure, Q. and Veiga, L. S. I. and Meyers, D. and Chiuzbaian, S. G. and Nicolaou, A. and Jaouen, N. and Jackman, R. B. and Nag, A. and Garcia-Fernandez, M. and Zhou, Ke-Jin and Walters, A. C. and Gilmore, K. and McMorrow, D. F. and Dean, M. P. M.}, year = {2021}, journal = {Phys. Rev. X}, volume = {11}, pages = {041052}, doi = {10.1103/PhysRevX.11.041052}, archiveprefix = {arXiv}, primaryclass = {cond-mat.str-el} }
Charge Condensation and Lattice Coupling Drives Stripe Formation in Nickelates

Y. Shen, G. Fabbris, H. Miao, Y. Cao, D. Meyers, D. G. Mazzone, T. Assefa, X. M. Chen, K. Kisslinger, D. Prabhakaran, A. T. Boothroyd, J. M. Tranquada, W. Hu, A. M. Barbour, S. B. Wilkins, C. Mazzoli, I. K. Robinson, and M. P. M. Dean

Phys. Rev. Lett. 126, 177601 (2021)

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Revealing the predominant driving force behind symmetry breaking in correlated materials is sometimes a formidable task due to the intertwined nature of different degrees of freedom. This is the case for La_2-xSr_xNiO_4+δ, in which coupled incommensurate charge and spin stripes form at low temperatures. Here, we use resonant x-ray photon correlation spectroscopy to study the temporal stability and domain memory of the charge and spin stripes in La_2-xSr_xNiO_4+δ. Although spin stripes are more spatially correlated, charge stripes maintain a better temporal stability against temperature change. More intriguingly, charge order shows robust domain memory with thermal cycling up to 250 K, far above the ordering temperature. These results demonstrate the pinning of charge stripes to the lattice and that charge condensation is the predominant factor in the formation of stripe orders in nickelates.
@article{shen2021charge, dimensions = {true}, title = {Charge Condensation and Lattice Coupling Drives Stripe Formation in Nickelates}, author = {Shen, Y. and Fabbris, G. and Miao, H. and Cao, Y. and Meyers, D. and Mazzone, D. G. and Assefa, T. and Chen, X. M. and Kisslinger, K. and Prabhakaran, D. and Boothroyd, A. T. and Tranquada, J. M. and Hu, W. and Barbour, A. M. and Wilkins, S. B. and Mazzoli, C. and Robinson, I. K. and Dean, M. P. M.}, journal = {Phys. Rev. Lett.}, volume = {126}, issue = {17}, pages = {177601}, numpages = {7}, year = {2021}, month = apr, publisher = {American Physical Society}, doi = {10.1103/PhysRevLett.126.177601}, url = {https://link.aps.org/doi/10.1103/PhysRevLett.126.177601} }

2020

Strongly Correlated Charge Density Wave in La_2-xSr_xCuO₄ Evidenced by Doping-Dependent Phonon Anomaly

J. Q. Lin, H. Miao, D. G. Mazzone, G. D. Gu, A. Nag, A. C. Walters, M. Garcı́a-Fernández, A. Barbour, J. Pelliciari, I. Jarrige, M. Oda, K. Kurosawa, N. Momono, Ke-Jin Zhou, V. Bisogni, X. Liu, and M. P. M. Dean

Phys. Rev. Lett. 124, 207005 (2020)

[BNL Press Release]

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The discovery of charge-density-wave-related effects in the resonant inelastic x-ray scattering spectra of cuprates holds the tantalizing promise of clarifying the interactions that stabilize the electronic order. Here, we report a comprehensive resonant inelastic x-ray scattering study of La2−xSrxCuO4 finding that chargedensity wave effects persist up to a remarkably high doping level of x=0.21 before disappearing at x = 0.25. The inelastic excitation spectra remain essentially unchanged with doping despite crossing a topological transition in the Fermi surface. This indicates that the spectra contain little or no direct coupling to electronic excitations near the Fermi surface, rather they are dominated by the resonant cross section for phonons and charge-density-wave-induced phonon softening. We interpret our results in terms of a chargedensity wave that is generated by strong correlations and a phonon response that is driven by the chargedensity-wave-induced modification of the lattice.
@article{lin2020strongly, dimensions = {true}, title = {Strongly Correlated Charge Density Wave in La2-xSrxCuO4 Evidenced by Doping-Dependent Phonon Anomaly}, author = {Lin, J. Q. and Miao, H. and Mazzone, D. G. and Gu, G. D. and Nag, A. and Walters, A. C. and Garc\'{\i}a-Fern\'andez, M. and Barbour, A. and Pelliciari, J. and Jarrige, I. and Oda, M. and Kurosawa, K. and Momono, N. and Zhou, Ke-Jin and Bisogni, V. and Liu, X. and Dean, M. P. M.}, journal = {Phys. Rev. Lett.}, volume = {124}, issue = {20}, pages = {207005}, numpages = {7}, year = {2020}, month = may, publisher = {American Physical Society}, doi = {10.1103/PhysRevLett.124.207005}, url = {https://link.aps.org/doi/10.1103/PhysRevLett.124.207005}, note = {[<a href="https://www.bnl.gov/newsroom/news.php?a=217349" target="_blank">BNL Press Release</a>]} }

2019

Charge density wave memory in a cuprate superconductor

XM Chen, C Mazzoli, Y Cao, V Thampy, AM Barbour, W Hu, M Lu, TA Assefa, H Miao, G Fabbris, G. D. Gu, J. M. Tranquada, M. P. M. Dean, S. B. Wilkins, and I. K. Robinson

Nature communications 10, 1435 (2019)

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Although CDW correlations are a ubiquitous feature of the superconducting cuprates, their disparate properties suggest a crucial role for pinning the CDW to the lattice. Here, we report coherent resonant X-ray speckle correlation analysis, which directly determines the reproducibility of CDW domain patterns in La_1.875Ba_0.125CuO₄ (LBCO 1/8) with thermal cycling. While CDW order is only observed below 54 K, where a structural phase transition creates inequivalent Cu-O bonds, we discover remarkably reproducible CDW domain memory upon repeated cycling to far higher temperatures. That memory is only lost on cycling to 240(3) K, which recovers the four-fold symmetry of the CuO₂ planes. We infer that the structural features that develop below 240 K determine the CDW pinning landscape below 54 K. This opens a view into the complex coupling between charge and lattice degrees of freedom in superconducting cuprates.
@article{chen2019charge, dimensions = {true}, title = {Charge density wave memory in a cuprate superconductor}, author = {Chen, XM and Mazzoli, C and Cao, Y and Thampy, V and Barbour, AM and Hu, W and Lu, M and Assefa, TA and Miao, H and Fabbris, G and Gu, G. D. and Tranquada, J. M. and Dean, M. P. M. and Wilkins, S. B. and Robinson, I. K.}, journal = {Nature communications}, volume = {10}, number = {1}, pages = {1435}, year = {2019}, month = mar, publisher = {Nature Publishing Group}, doi = {10.1038/s41467-019-09433-1} }
Formation of Incommensurate Charge Density Waves in Cuprates

H. Miao, R. Fumagalli, M. Rossi, J. Lorenzana, G. Seibold, F. Yakhou-Harris, K. Kummer, N. B. Brookes, G. D. Gu, L. Braicovich, G. Ghiringhelli, and M. P. M. Dean

Phys. Rev. X 9, 031042 (2019)

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Although charge density waves (CDWs) are omnipresent in cuprate high-temperature superconductors, they occur at significantly different wave vectors, confounding efforts to understand their formation mechanism. Here, we use resonant inelastic x-ray scattering to investigate the doping- and temperature-dependent CDW evolution in La_2-xBa_xCuO₄ (x=0.115–0.155). We discover that the CDW develops in two stages with decreasing temperature. A precursor CDW with a quasicommensurate wave vector emerges first at high temperature. This doping-independent precursor CDW correlation originates from the CDW phase mode coupled with a phonon and “seeds” the low-temperature CDW with a strongly doping-dependent wave vector. Our observation reveals the precursor CDW and its phase mode as the building blocks of the highly intertwined electronic ground state in the cuprates.
@article{miao2019formation, dimensions = {true}, title = {Formation of Incommensurate Charge Density Waves in Cuprates}, author = {Miao, H. and Fumagalli, R. and Rossi, M. and Lorenzana, J. and Seibold, G. and Yakhou-Harris, F. and Kummer, K. and Brookes, N. B. and Gu, G. D. and Braicovich, L. and Ghiringhelli, G. and Dean, M. P. M.}, journal = {Phys. Rev. X}, volume = {9}, issue = {3}, pages = {031042}, numpages = {11}, year = {2019}, month = sep, publisher = {American Physical Society}, doi = {10.1103/PhysRevX.9.031042}, url = {https://link.aps.org/doi/10.1103/PhysRevX.9.031042} }

2018

Incommensurate phonon anomaly and the nature of charge density waves in cuprates

Hu Miao, D Ishikawa, Rolf Heid, Matthieu Le Tacon, Gilberto Fabbris, Derek Meyers, GD Gu, AQR Baron, and MPM Dean

Phys. Rev. X 8, 011008 (2018)

[Spring8 Research Highlight]

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While charge density wave (CDW) instabilities are ubiquitous to superconducting cuprates, the different ordering wave vectors in various cuprate families have hampered a unified description of the CDW formation mechanism. Here, we investigate the temperature dependence of the low-energy phonons in the canonical CDW-ordered cuprate La_1.875Ba_0.125CuO₄. We discover that the phonon softening wave vector associated with CDW correlations becomes temperature dependent in the high-temperature precursor phase and changes from a wave vector of 0.238 reciprocal lattice units (r.l.u.) below the ordering transition temperature to 0.3 r.l.u. at 300 K. This high-temperature behavior shows that “214”-type cuprates can host CDW correlations at a similar wave vector to previously reported CDW correlations in non-214-type cuprates such as YBa₂Cu₃O_6+δ. This indicates that cuprate CDWs may arise from the same underlying instability despite their apparently different low-temperature ordering wave vectors.
@article{miao2018incommensurate, dimensions = {true}, title = {Incommensurate phonon anomaly and the nature of charge density waves in cuprates}, author = {Miao, Hu and Ishikawa, D and Heid, Rolf and Le Tacon, Matthieu and Fabbris, Gilberto and Meyers, Derek and Gu, GD and Baron, AQR and Dean, MPM}, journal = {Phys. Rev. X}, volume = {8}, number = {1}, pages = {011008}, note = {[<a href="http://www.spring8.or.jp/pdf/en/res_fro/18/042-043.pdf" target="_blank">Spring8 Research Highlight</a>]}, year = {2018}, month = jan, doi = {10.1103/PhysRevX.8.011008}, publisher = {American Physical Society} }

2017

Doping dependence of collective spin and orbital excitations in the Spin-1 quantum antiferromagnet La_2-xSr_xNiO₄ Observed by X rays

G Fabbris, D Meyers, L Xu, VM Katukuri, L Hozoi, X Liu, ZY Chen, J Okamoto, T Schmitt, AC Uldry, B. Delley, G. D. Gu, D. Prabhakaran, A. T. Boothroyd, J. Brink, D. J. Huang, and M. P. M. Dean

Phys. Rev. Lett. 118, 011008 (2017)

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We report the first empirical demonstration that resonant inelastic x-ray scattering (RIXS) is sensitive to collective magnetic excitations in S=1 systems by probing the Ni L₃ edge of La_2−xSr_xNiO₄ (x=0, 0.33, 0.45). The magnetic excitation peak is asymmetric, indicating the presence of single and multi-spin-flip excitations. As the hole doping level is increased, the zone boundary magnon energy is suppressed at a much larger rate than that in hole doped cuprates. Based on the analysis of the orbital and charge excitations observed by RIXS, we argue that this difference is related to the orbital character of the doped holes in these two families. This work establishes RIXS as a probe of fundamental magnetic interactions in nickelates opening the way towards studies of heterostructures and ultrafast pump-probe experiments.
@article{fabbris2017doping, dimensions = {true}, title = {Doping dependence of collective spin and orbital excitations in the Spin-1 quantum antiferromagnet La2-xSrxNiO4 Observed by X rays}, author = {Fabbris, G and Meyers, D and Xu, L and Katukuri, VM and Hozoi, L and Liu, X and Chen, ZY and Okamoto, J and Schmitt, T and Uldry, AC and Delley, B. and Gu, G. D. and Prabhakaran, D. and Boothroyd, A. T. and van den Brink, J. and Huang, D. J. and Dean, M. P. M.}, journal = {Phys. Rev. Lett.}, volume = {118}, number = {15}, year = {2017}, month = apr, doi = {10.1103/PhysRevLett.118.156402}, publisher = {American Physical Society} }
High-temperature charge density wave correlations in La_1.875Ba_0.125CuO₄ without spin–charge locking

H Miao, José Lorenzana, Götz Seibold, YY Peng, A Amorese, F Yakhou-Harris, K Kummer, NB Brookes, RM Konik, V Thampy, G. D. Gu, G. Ghiringhelli, L. Braicovich, and M. P. M. Dean

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 114, 12430–12435 (2017)

[BNL Press Release]

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Although all superconducting cuprates display charge-ordering tendencies, their low-temperature properties are distinct, imped- ing efforts to understand the phenomena within a single con- ceptual framework. While some systems exhibit stripes of charge and spin, with a locked periodicity, others host charge den- sity waves (CDWs) without any obviously related spin order. Here we use resonant inelastic X-ray scattering to follow the evolution of charge correlations in the canonical stripe-ordered cuprate La_1.875Ba_0.125CuO₄ across its ordering transition. We find that high-temperature charge correlations are unlocked from the wavevector of the spin correlations, signaling analogies to CDW phases in various other cuprates. This indicates that stripe order at low temperatures is stabilized by the coupling of otherwise inde- pendent charge and spin density waves, with important implica- tions for the relation between charge and spin correlations in the cuprates. charge
@article{miao2017high, dimensions = {true}, title = {High-temperature charge density wave correlations in La1.875Ba0.125CuO4 without spin--charge locking}, author = {Miao, H and Lorenzana, Jos{\'e} and Seibold, G{\"o}tz and Peng, YY and Amorese, A and Yakhou-Harris, F and Kummer, K and Brookes, NB and Konik, RM and Thampy, V and Gu, G. D. and Ghiringhelli, G. and Braicovich, L. and Dean, M. P. M.}, journal = {Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences}, volume = {114}, number = {47}, pages = {12430--12435}, note = {[<a href="https://www.bnl.gov/newsroom/news.php?a=212619" target="_blank">BNL Press Release</a>]}, doi = {10.1073/pnas.1708549114}, year = {2017}, month = may, publisher = {National Academy of Sciences} }

2016

Remarkable stability of charge density wave order in La_2-xBa_xCuO₄

XM Chen, V Thampy, C Mazzoli, AM Barbour, H Miao, GD Gu, Y Cao, JM Tranquada, MPM Dean, and SB Wilkins

Phys. Rev. Lett. 117, 167001 (2016)

[BNL Press Release]

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The occurrence of charge-density-wave (CDW) order in underdoped cuprates is now well established, although the precise nature of the CDW and its relationship with superconductivity is not. Theoretical proposals include contrasting ideas such as that pairing may be driven by CDW fluctuations or that static CDWs may intertwine with a spatially modulated superconducting wave function. We test the dynamics of CDW order in La_2-xBa_xCuO₄ by using x-ray photon correlation spectroscopy at the CDW wave vector, detected resonantly at the Cu L3 edge. We find that the CDW domains are strikingly static, with no evidence of significant fluctuations up to 2/3/4 h. We discuss the implications of these results for some of the competing theories.
@article{chen2016remarkable, dimensions = {true}, title = {Remarkable stability of charge density wave order in La2-xBaxCuO4}, author = {Chen, XM and Thampy, V and Mazzoli, C and Barbour, AM and Miao, H and Gu, GD and Cao, Y and Tranquada, JM and Dean, MPM and Wilkins, SB}, journal = {Phys. Rev. Lett.}, volume = {117}, number = {16}, pages = {167001}, year = {2016}, month = oct, note = {[<a href="https://www.bnl.gov/newsroom/news.php?a=111883" target="_blank">BNL Press Release</a>]}, doi = {10.1103/PhysRevLett.117.167001}, publisher = {American Physical Society} }