Impact of quenched oxygen disorder on charge density wave order in YBa2Cu3O6+x
A J Achkar1, X Mao1, Christopher McMahon1
1Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Waterloo, Waterloo N2L 3G1, Canada.
Abstract:
The competition between superconductivity and charge density wave (CDW) order in underdoped cuprates has now been widely reported, but the role of disorder in this competition has yet to be fully resolved. A central question is whether disorder sets the length scale of the CDW order, for instance by pinning charge density fluctuations or disrupting an otherwise long-range order. Using resonant soft x-ray scattering, we investigate the sensitivity of CDW order in YBa2Cu3O6+x (YBCO) to varying levels of oxygen disorder. We find that quench cooling YBCO6.67 (YBCO6.75) crystals to destroy their o-V and o-VIII (o-III) chains decreases the intensity of the CDW superlattice peak by a factor of 1.9 (1.3), but has little effect on the CDW correlation length, incommensurability, and temperature dependence. This reveals that while quenched oxygen disorder influences the CDW order parameter, the spatial extent of the CDW order is insensitive to the level of quenched oxygen disorder and may instead be a consequence of competition with superconductivity.
More Related Videos
Related Concept Videos
Trends in Lattice Energy: Ion Size and Charge
Imperfections in Crystal Structure: Stoichiometric Point Defects
Ionic Crystal Structures
Most monatomic ions behave as charged spheres, and their attraction for ions of opposite charge is the same in every direction. Consequently, stable structures for ionic compounds result (1) when ions of one charge are surrounded by as many ions as possible of the opposite...
Crystal Field Theory - Tetrahedral and Square Planar Complexes
Crystal field theory (CFT) is applicable to molecules in geometries other than octahedral. In octahedral complexes, the lobes of the dx2−y2 and dz2 orbitals point directly at the ligands. For tetrahedral complexes, the d orbitals remain in place, but with only four ligands located between the axes. None of the orbitals points directly at the tetrahedral ligands. However, the dx2−y2 and dz2 orbitals (along the Cartesian axes) overlap with the ligands less than...
Crystal Field Theory - Octahedral Complexes
To explain the observed behavior of transition metal complexes (such as colors), a model involving electrostatic interactions between the electrons from the ligands and the electrons in the unhybridized d orbitals of the central metal atom has been developed. This electrostatic model is crystal field theory (CFT). It helps to understand, interpret, and predict the colors, magnetic behavior, and some structures of coordination compounds of transition metals.
CFT focuses on...
Dielectric Polarization in a Capacitor


