Observation of a three-dimensional quasi-long-range electronic supermodulation in YBa2Cu3O7-x/La0. 7Ca0. 3MnO3 heterostructures

He, Junfeng; Shafer, Padraic; Mion, Thomas R.; Tra, Vu Thanh; He, Qing; Kong, J.; Chuang, Y.-D.; Yang, W.L.; Graf, M.J.; Lin, J.-Y.; Chu, Y.-H.; Arenholz, E.; He, R.-H.

Abstract

Recent developments in high-temperature superconductivity highlight a generic tendency of the cuprates to develop competing electronic (charge) supermodulations. While coupled with the lattice and showing different characteristics in different materials, these supermodulations themselves are generally conceived to be quasi-two-dimensional, residing mainly in individual CuO2 planes, and poorly correlated along the c axis. Here we observed with resonant elastic X-ray scattering a distinct type of electronic supermodulation in YBa2Cu3O7−x (YBCO) thin films grown epitaxially on La0.7Ca0.3MnO3 (LCMO). This supermodulation has a periodicity nearly commensurate with four lattice constants in-plane, eight out of plane, with long correlation lengths in three dimensions. It sets in far above the superconducting transition temperature and competes with superconductivity below this temperature for electronic states predominantly in the CuO2 plane. Our finding sheds light on the nature of charge ordering in cuprates as well as a reported long-range proximity effect between superconductivity and ferromagnetism in YBCO/LCMO heterostructures.

Citation

He, J., Shafer, P., Mion, T. R., Tra, V. T., He, Q., Kong, J., …He, R. (2016). Observation of a three-dimensional quasi-long-range electronic supermodulation in YBa2Cu3O7-x/La0. 7Ca0. 3MnO3 heterostructures. Nature Communications, 7, Article 10852. https://doi.org/10.1038/ncomms10852

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Jan 27, 2016
• Online Publication Date: Mar 1, 2016
• Publication Date: Mar 1, 2016
• Deposit Date: Dec 5, 2016
• Publicly Available Date: Dec 9, 2016
• Journal: Nature Communications
• Publisher: Nature Research
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 7
• Article Number: 10852
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/ncomms10852
• Public URL: https://durham-repository.worktribe.com/output/1390873