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Condensed-matter physics

Stripes of a different stripe

Nature volume 392, pages 438–439 (1998)Cite this article

In some materials, the electronic charge density organizes itself into stripes. Stripe physics has been of intense interest to condensed-matter physicists, as an example of a non-trivial ordering phenomenon, and because of its possible connection to high-temperature superconductivity. On page 473 of this issue1, Mori et al. report a novel paired stripe order. Their work opens a new window onto stripe physics and onto the fundamental issue of the interplay between hybridization and interactions.

Hybridization, the overlap of electron wavefunctions centred on different sites, is a quantum-mechanical effect that allows electrons to hop from one atom to another, thus tending to spread the electronic density uniformly through the solid. In contrast, interactions of electrons with one another and with displacements of the atoms in the solid tend to promote non-uniform charge distributions. If hybridization is dominant, a conventional metal (such as aluminium) or insulator (such as diamond) results. But if interactions are dominant, charge ordering may occur: in a charge-ordered state the electrons arrange themselves in a pattern with periodicity differing from that of the underlying lattice. The precise pattern is determined by the nature of the interactions and by the residual effects of hybridization.

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Figure 1: Stripe pairs in the manganite La1-xCaxMnO3.

S. MORI ET AL.

References

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  1. the Department of Physics and Astronomy, The Johns Hopkins University, 3400 North Charles Street, Baltimore, 21218, Maryland, USA

    A. J. Millis

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  1. A. J. Millis
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Millis, A. Stripes of a different stripe. Nature 392, 438–439 (1998). https://doi.org/10.1038/33017

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