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Two-dimensional geometry of spin excitations in the high-transition-temperature superconductor YBa2Cu3O6+x.

Author(s) : HINKOV V., PAILHÈS S., BOURGES P., et al.

Type of article: Article

Summary

The fundamental building block of the copper oxide superconductors is a Cu4O4 square plaquette. The plaquettes in most of these materials are slightly distorted to form a rectangular lattice, for which an influential theory predicts that high-transition-temperature (high-Tc) superconductivity is nucleated in 'stripes' aligned along one of the axes. This theory received strong support from experiments that indicated a one-dimensional character for the magnetic excitations in the high-Tc material YBa2Cu3O6.6. The authors report neutron scattering data on 'untwinned' YBa2Cu3O6+x crystals, in which the orientation of the rectangular lattice is maintained throughout the entire volume. Contrary to the earlier claim, we demonstrate that the geometry of the magnetic fluctuations is two-dimensional. Rigid stripe arrays therefore appear to be ruled out over a wide range of doping levels in YBa2Cu3O6+x, but the data may be consistent with liquid-crystalline stripe order. The debate about stripes has therefore been reopened.

Details

  • Original title: Two-dimensional geometry of spin excitations in the high-transition-temperature superconductor YBa2Cu3O6+x.
  • Record ID : 2005-0011
  • Languages: English
  • Source: Nature - vol. 430 - n. 7000
  • Publication date: 2004/08/05

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