• Boyle, T.J.; Walker, M.; Ruiz, A.; Schierle, E.; Zhao, Z.; Boschini, F.; Sutarto, R.; Boyko, T.D.; Moore, W.; Tamura, N.; He, F.; Weschke, E.; Gozar, A.; Peng, W.; Komarek, A.C.; Damascelli, A.; Schüßler-Langeheine, C.; Frano, A.; da Silva Neto, E.H.; Blanco-Canosa, S.: Large response of charge stripes to uniaxial stress in La1.475Nd0.4Sr0.125CuO4. Physical Review Research 3 (2021), p. L022004/1-6

10.1103/PhysRevResearch.3.L022004
Open Access Version

Abstract:
The La-based “214” cuprates host several symmetry-breaking phases, including superconductivity, charge and spin order in the form of stripes, and a structural orthorhombic-to-tetragonal phase transition. Therefore these materials are an ideal system to study the effects of uniaxial stress onto the various correlations that pervade the cuprate phase diagram. We report resonant x-ray scattering experiments on La1.475Nd0.4Sr0.125CuO4(LNSCO-125) that reveal a significant response of charge stripes to uniaxial tensile stress of ∼0.1GPa. These effects include a reduction of the onset temperature of stripes by ∼50K, a 29-K reduction of the low-temperature orthorhombic-to-tetragonal transition, competition between charge order and superconductivity, and a preference for stripes to form along the direction of applied stress. Altogether, we observe a dramatic response of the electronic properties of LNSCO-125 to a modest amount of uniaxial stress.