Comment on “No evidence for orbital loop currents in charge-ordered YBa2Cu3O6+x from polarized neutron diffraction”

Abstract

Intra-unit cell magnetic order has been observed in four different families of high-temperature superconductors from polarized neutron diffraction experiments and supported by several other techniques. That order, which does not break translation symmetry, is consistent with the predicted orbital moments generated by two microscopic loop currrents in each CuO$_2$ cell. Recently, using polarized neutron diffraction, Croft {\it et al} [Phys. Rev. B 96, 214504 (2017)] claim to find no evidence for such orbital loop currents in charge ordered ${\rm YBa_2Cu_3O_{6+x}}$. Their experiment is done with detwinned samples at least 100 times smaller than in previous experiments without counting much longer. We show by a detailed quantitative analysis of their data that contrary to their conclusion, the magnetic signal falls below their threshold of detection. None of the data reported by Croft {\it et al} challenge the universality of the intra-unit cell order in cuprates.