Large response of charge stripes to uniaxial stress in $\textrm{La}_{1.475}\textrm{Nd}_{0.4}\textrm{Sr}_{0.125}\textrm{Cu}\textrm{O}_{4}$
cond-mat.str-el
/ Authors
T. J. Boyle, M. Walker, A. Ruiz, E. Schierle, Z. Zhao, F. Boschini, R. Sutarto, T. D. Boyko, W. Moore, N. Tamura
and 10 more authors
F. He, E. Weschke, A. Gozar, W. Peng, A. C. Komarek, A. Damascelli, C. Schüßler-Langeheine, A. Frano, E. H. da Silva Neto, S. Blanco-Canosa
/ 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 othorhombic-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 $\textrm{La}_{1.475}\textrm{Nd}_{0.4}\textrm{Sr}_{0.125}\textrm{Cu}\textrm{O}_{4}$ (LNSCO-125) that reveal a significant response of charge stripes to uniaxial tensile-stress of $\sim$ 0.1 GPa. These effects include a reduction of the onset temperature of stripes by $\sim$ 50 K, 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.