Direct observation of competition between superconductivity and charge density wave order in YBa2Cu3Oy

Abstract

Superconductivity often emerges in the proximity of, or in competition with, symmetry breaking ground states such as antiferromagnetism or charge density waves (CDW)1-5. A number of materials in the cuprate family, which includes the high-transition-temperature (high-Tc) superconductors, show spin and charge density wave order5-7. Thus a fundamental question is to what extent these ordered states exist for compositions close to optimal for superconductivity. Here we use high-energy x-ray diffraction to show that a CDW develops at zero field in the normal state of superconducting YBa2Cu3O6.67 (Tc = 67 K). Below Tc, the application of a magnetic field suppresses superconductivity and enhances the CDW. Hence, the CDW and superconductivity are competing orders in this typical high-Tc superconductor, and high-Tc superconductivity can form from a pre-existing CDW state. Our results explain observations of small Fermi surface pockets8, negative Hall and Seebeck effect9,10 and the "Tc plateau"11 in this material when underdoped.

Supplementary Information is available on request

References in corpus (10)

• Quantum oscillations and the Fermi surface in an underdoped high-Tc superconductor
• Electron pockets in the Fermi surface of hole-doped high-Tc superconductors
• Lattice symmetry breaking in cuprate superconductors: Stripes, nematics, and superconductivity
• Charge density wave origin of cuprate checkerboard visualized by scanning tunneling microscopy
• Striped superconductors: How the cuprates intertwine spin, charge and superconducting orders
• Lifshitz critical point in the cuprate superconductor YBa2Cu3Oy from high-field Hall effect measurements
• Tuning competing orders in La2-xSrxCuO4 cuprate superconductors by the application of an external magnetic field
• Planes, Chains, and Orbits: Quantum Oscillations and High Magnetic Field Heat Capacity in Underdoped YBCO
• Distinguishing Patterns of Charge Order: Stripes or Checkerboards
• Fermi surface pockets in ortho-II YBa${}_2$Cu${}_3$O${}_{6.5}$: the origin of quantum oscillations?

Cited by in corpus (12)

• Phase competition in trisected superconducting dome
• X-ray diffraction observation of charge density wave order at zero magnetic field in ortho-II YBa${}_2$Cu${}_3$O${}_{6.54}$
• Resonant Elastic Soft X-Ray Scattering
• Berry phase mechanism for optical gyrotropy in stripe-ordered cuprates
• Pressure dependence of the charge density wave in 1T-TaS2 and its relation to superconductivity
• Vortex Lattice Melting and Hc2 in underdoped YBa2Cu3Oy
• Spin-stripe density varies linearly with hole content in single-layer Bi2201 cuprate
• Coherent quantum transport of charge density waves
• Evolution of superconducting correlations within magnetic-field-decoupled CuO(2) layers of La(1.905)Ba(0.095)CuO(4)
• Angular Dependent Spectral-Weight Transfer and Evidence for Symmetry Broken In-Plane Charge Response in Ca${}_{1.9}$Na${}_{0.1}$CuO${}_2$Cl${}_2$
• Application of Non-local Quantum Hydrodynamics to the Description of the Charged Density Waves in the Graphen Crystal Lattice
• The hybrid lattice of KxFe2-ySe2: why superconductivity and magnetism can coexist