Charge-density-wave origin of cuprate checkerboard visualized by scanning tunnelling microscopy

W. D. Wise, M. C. Boyer, Kamalesh Chatterjee, Takeshi Kondo, T. Takeuchi, H. Ikuta, Yayu Wang, E. W. Hudson

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

315 Scopus citations

Abstract

One of the main challenges in understanding high-Tc superconductivity is to disentangle the rich variety of states of matter that may coexist, cooperate or compete with d-wave superconductivity. At centre stage is the pseudogap phase, which occupies a large portion of the cuprate phase diagram surrounding the superconducting dome. Using scanning tunnelling microscopy, we find that a static, non-dispersive, 'checkerboard'-like electronic modulation exists in a broad regime of the cuprate phase diagram and exhibits strong doping dependence. The continuous increase of checkerboard periodicity with hole density strongly suggests that the checkerboard originates from charge-density-wave formation in the antinodal region of the cuprate Fermi surface. These results reveal a coherent picture for static electronic orderings in the cuprates and shed important new light on the nature of the pseudogap phase.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)696-699
Number of pages4
JournalNature Physics
Volume4
Issue number9
DOIs
StatePublished - Sep 2008

All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes

  • General Physics and Astronomy

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