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One-dimensional nature of the magnetic fluctuations in YBa2Cu 3O6.6

Nature volume 404, pages 729–731 (2000)Cite this article

Abstract

There is increasing evidence that inhomogeneous distributions of charge and spin—so-called ‘striped phases’—play an important role in determining the properties of the high-temperature superconductors. For example, recent neutron-scattering measurements on the YBa2Cu 3O7-x family of materials show both spin and charge fluctuations that are consistent with the striped-phase picture. But the fluctuations associated with a striped phase are expected to be one-dimensional, whereas the magnetic fluctuations observed to date appear to display two-dimensional symmetry. We show here that this apparent two-dimensionality results from measurements on twinned crystals, and that similar measurements on substantially detwinned crystals of YBa2Cu3O6.6 reveal the one-dimensional character of the magnetic fluctuations, thus greatly strengthening the striped-phase interpretation. Moreover, our results also suggest that superconductivity originates in charge stripes that extend along the 𝖻 crystal axis, where the superfluid density is found to be substantially larger than for the 𝖺 direction.

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Figure 1: Diagram showing the scans used in the experiment, and a plot of the twin domain population.
Figure 2: Scans of the magnetic incommensurate scattering for the twinned and partially detwinned sample taken at 10 K.
Figure 3: Optical phonon measurements on YBa2Cu3O 6.6.

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Acknowledgements

The work at Oak Ridge National Laboratory was supported by the US Department of Energy.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, 37831, Tennessee, USA

    H. A. Mook, Pengcheng Dai & R. D. Hunt

  2. Department of Materials Sciences and Engineering, University of Washington, Seattle, 98195, Washington , USA

    F. Dogan

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  1. H. A. Mook
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  2. Pengcheng Dai
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  3. F. Dogan
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Correspondence to H. A. Mook.

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Mook, H., Dai, P., Dogan, F. et al. One-dimensional nature of the magnetic fluctuations in YBa2Cu 3O6.6. Nature 404, 729–731 (2000). https://doi.org/10.1038/35008005

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