Understanding the superconductivity and charge density wave interaction through quasi-static lattice fluctuations.
basic_science · Level V
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- Record sourced from PubMed, PMID 39630858.
- Also identified by DOI 10.1073/pnas.2412182121 and PMC identifier 11648853.
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Abstract
In unconventional superconductors, coupled charge and lattice degrees of freedom can manifest in ordered phases of matter that are intertwined. In the cuprate family, fluctuating short-range charge correlations can coalesce into a longer-range charge density wave (CDW) order which is thought to intertwine with superconductivity, yet the nature of the interaction is still poorly understood. Here, by measuring subtle lattice fluctuations in underdoped YBa<sub>2</sub>Cu<sub>3</sub>O<sub>6+<i>y</i></sub> on quasi-static timescales (thousands of seconds) through X-ray photon correlation spectroscopy, we report sensitivity to both superconductivity and CDW. The atomic lattice shows remarkably faster relaxational dynamics upon approaching the superconducting transition at <i>T</i><sub>c</sub> ≈ 65 K. By tracking the momentum dependence, we show that the intermediate scattering function almost monotonically scales with the relaxation distance of atoms away from their average positions above <i>T</i><sub>c</sub> and in the presence of the CDW state, while this peculiar trend is reversed for other temperatures. These observations are consistent with an incipient CDW stabilized by local strain. This work provides insights into the crucial role of relaxational atomic fluctuations for understanding the electronic physics cuprates, which are inherently disordered due to carrier doping.