Nanoscale phase separation in cuprate superconductors

Abstract

Electronic inhomogeneities are nowadays a well established feature of high-temperature superconductors, most prominently exemplified by the observation of charge-ordered states in a large number of cuprate materials. In this contribution we review the particular contribution of the Stuttgart-Tartu-Cottbus group to this field, which has been largely stimulated by intense discussion with K. Alex Müller. The original scenario, which was based on the formation of a percolative electronic network, is substantiated by a microscopic analysis of the clustering of magnetic polarons within the one-band Hubbard model.