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Phys. Rev. Lett. 93, 157008 (2004) [4 pages]

Four-Unit-Cell Superstructure in the Optimally Doped YBa2Cu3O6.92 Superconductor

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Zahirul Islam1,*, X. Liu2, S. K. Sinha2, J. C. Lang1, S. C. Moss3, D. Haskel1, G. Srajer1, P. Wochner4, D. R. Lee1, D. R. Haeffner1, and U. Welp5
1Advanced Photon Source, Argonne National Laboratory, Argonne, Illinois 60439, USA
2Department of Physics, University of California, San Diego, California 92093, USA
3Department of Physics and Texas Center for Superconductivity and Advanced Materials, University of Houston, Houston, Texas 77204, USA
4Max-Planck-Institut für Metallforschung, 70569 Stuttgart, Germany
5Materials Science Division, Argonne National Laboratory, Argonne, Illinois 60439, USA

Received 23 December 2003; published 7 October 2004

Diffuse x-ray scattering measurements reveal that the optimally doped YBa2Cu3O6.92 superconductor is intrinsically modulated due to the formation of a kinetically limited 4-unit-cell superlattice, q0=(1/4,0,0), along the shorter Cu-Cu bonds. The superlattice consists of large anisotropic displacements of Cu, Ba, and O atoms, respectively, which are correlated over ∼3–6 unit cells in the ab plane, and appears to be consistent with the presence of an O-ordered “ortho-IV” phase. Long-range strains emanating from these modulated regions generate an inhomogeneous lattice which may play a fundamentally important role in the electronic properties of yttrium-barium-copper-oxides.

© 2004 The American Physical Society

URL:
http://link.aps.org/doi/10.1103/PhysRevLett.93.157008
DOI:
10.1103/PhysRevLett.93.157008
PACS:
74.72.Bk, 61.10.Eq, 74.25.–q

*Email Address: zahir@aps.anl.gov

 
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