Direct evidence for charge stripes in a layered cobalt oxide.
Nat Commun 2016;
7:11632. [PMID:
27212023 PMCID:
PMC4879241 DOI:
10.1038/ncomms11632]
[Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/26/2016] [Accepted: 04/14/2016] [Indexed: 11/23/2022] Open
Abstract
Recent experiments indicate that static stripe-like charge order is generic to the hole-doped copper oxide superconductors and competes with superconductivity. Here we show that a similar type of charge order is present in La5/3Sr1/3CoO4, an insulating analogue of the copper oxide superconductors containing cobalt in place of copper. The stripe phase we have detected is accompanied by short-range, quasi-one-dimensional, antiferromagnetic order, and provides a natural explanation for the distinctive hourglass shape of the magnetic spectrum previously observed in neutron-scattering measurements of La2−xSrxCoO4 and many hole-doped copper oxide superconductors. The results establish a solid empirical basis for theories of the hourglass spectrum built on short-range, quasi-static, stripe correlations.
The nature of the magnetic ground state giving rise to the hourglass-shaped magnetic spectrum common among high-Tc superconductors is a matter of debate. Here, Babkevich et al. detect the presence of stripe charge order accompanied by quasi-one-dimensional antiferromagnetic order in La5/3Sr1/3CoO4, providing a natural explanation for this characteristic spectrum.
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