Charge density wave fluctuations in La2−xSrxCuO4 and their competition with superconductivity

General rights This document is made available in accordance with publisher policies. Please cite only the published version using the reference above. Full terms of use are available: Explore Bristol Research is a digital archive and the intention is that deposited content should not be removed. However, if you believe that this version of the work breaches copyright law please contact [email protected] and include the following information in your message: • Your contact details • Bibliographic details for the item, including a URL • An outline of the nature of the complaint On receipt of your message the Open Access Team will immediately investigate your claim, make an initial judgement of the validity of the claim and, where appropriate, withdraw the item in question from public view. We report hard (14 keV) x-ray diffraction measurements on three compositions (x = 0.11, 0.12, 0.13) of the high-temperature superconductor La 2−x Sr x CuO 4. All samples show charge-density-wave (CDW) order with onset temperatures in the range 51–80 K and ordering wavevectors close to (0.23,0,0.5). The CDW is strongest with the longest in-plane correlation length near 1/8 doping. On entering the superconducting state the CDW is suppressed, demonstrating the strong competition between the charge order and superconductivity. CDW order coexists with incommensurate magnetic order and the wavevectors of the two modulations have the simple relationship δ charge = 2δ spin. The intensity of the CDW Bragg peak tracks the intensity of the low-energy (quasi-elastic) spin fluctuations. We present a phase diagram of La 2−x Sr x CuO 4 including the pseudogap phase, CDW and magnetic order.