Abstract
Charge density waves (CDWs) in the cuprate high-temperature superconductors have evoked much interest, yet their typical short-range nature has raised questions regarding the role of disorder. Here we report a resonant X-ray diffraction study of ZrTe{}_{3}, a model CDW system, with focus on the influence of disorder. Near the CDW transition temperature, we observe two independent signals that arise concomitantly, only to become clearly separated in momentum while developing very different correlation lengths in the well-ordered state that is reached at a distinctly lower temperature. Anomalously slow dynamics of mesoscopic charge domains are further found near the transition temperature, in spite of the expected strong thermal fluctuations. Our observations signify the presence of distinct experimental fingerprints of pristine and disorder-perturbed CDWs. We discuss the latter also in the context of Friedel oscillations, which we argue might promote CDW formation via a self-amplifying process.
Highlights
Charge density waves (CDWs) in the cuprate high-temperature superconductors have evoked much interest, yet their typical short-range nature has raised questions regarding the role of disorder
The formation of CDWs in at least some of the cuprates is accompanied by sharp phonon dispersion (Kohn) anomalies[6], which are commonly found in conventional CDW systems
How such nucleation occurs, and to what extent it promotes CDW formation, are questions that need to be addressed on top of the influence of disorder on the CDW correlation length and dynamics
Summary
Charge density waves (CDWs) in the cuprate high-temperature superconductors have evoked much interest, yet their typical short-range nature has raised questions regarding the role of disorder. Disorder is known to provide a local potential to foster the stabilization of dynamical charge correlations near the transition point[1,2,23,24,25,26] How such nucleation occurs, and to what extent it promotes CDW formation, are questions that need to be addressed on top of the influence of disorder on the CDW correlation length and dynamics. The experiment further benefits from resonant enhancement of diffraction signals at the Te M absorption edges —providing increased sensitivity to the very weak charge correlations near the CDW melting point even for relatively short acquisition times These experimental advantages enable us to clarify the effects of disorder on the incipience of CDWs in ZrTe3
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