• Editors' Suggestion

Nernst effect in the cuprate superconductor YBa2Cu3Oy: Broken rotational and translational symmetries

J. Chang, Nicolas Doiron-Leyraud, Francis Laliberté, R. Daou, David LeBoeuf, B. J. Ramshaw, Ruixing Liang, D. A. Bonn, W. N. Hardy, Cyril Proust, I. Sheikin, K. Behnia, and Louis Taillefer
Phys. Rev. B 84, 014507 – Published 20 July 2011

Abstract

The Nernst coefficient of the cuprate superconductor YBa2Cu3Oy was recently shown to become strongly anisotropic within the basal plane when cooled below the pseudogap temperature T, revealing that the pseudogap phase breaks the fourfold rotational symmetry of the CuO2 planes. Here we report on the evolution of this Nernst anisotropy at low temperature, once superconductivity is suppressed by a magnetic field. We find that the anisotropy drops rapidly below 80 K, to vanish in the T=0 limit. We show that this loss of anisotropy is due to the emergence of a small high-mobility electronlike pocket in the Fermi surface at low temperature, a reconstruction attributed to a low-temperature state that breaks the translational symmetry of the CuO2 planes. We discuss the sequence of broken symmetries—first rotational, then translational—in terms of an electronic nematic-to-smectic transition such as could arise when unidirectional spin or charge modulations order. We compare YBa2Cu3Oy with iron-pnictide superconductors where the process of (unidirectional) antiferromagnetic ordering gives rises to the same sequence of broken symmetries.

  • Figure
  • Figure
  • Figure
  • Figure
  • Figure
  • Received 14 March 2011

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevB.84.014507

©2011 American Physical Society

Authors & Affiliations

J. Chang1, Nicolas Doiron-Leyraud1, Francis Laliberté1, R. Daou1,*, David LeBoeuf1,†, B. J. Ramshaw2, Ruixing Liang2,3, D. A. Bonn2,3, W. N. Hardy2,3, Cyril Proust3,4, I. Sheikin5, K. Behnia6, and Louis Taillefer1,3,‡

  • 1Département de Physique and RQMP, Université de Sherbrooke, Sherbrooke, Canada
  • 2Department of Physics & Astronomy, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada
  • 3Canadian Institute for Advanced Research, Toronto, Canada
  • 4Laboratoire National des Champs Magnétiques Intenses., UPR 3228 (CNRS, INSA, UJF, UPS), FR-31400 Toulouse, France
  • 5Laboratoire National des Champs Magnétiques Intenses (CNRS), FR-38042 Grenoble, France
  • 6LPEM (UPMC-CNRS), ESPCI, FR-75231 Paris, France

  • *Present address: Max Planck Institute for Chemical Physics of Solids, Dresden 01187, Germany.
  • Present address: Laboratoire National des Champs Magnétiques Intenses, UPR 3228 (CNRS, INSA, UJF, UPS), Toulouse 31400, France.
  • louis.taillefer@physique.usherbrooke.ca.

Article Text (Subscription Required)

Click to Expand

References (Subscription Required)

Click to Expand
Issue

Vol. 84, Iss. 1 — 1 July 2011

Reuse & Permissions
Access Options
Author publication services for translation and copyediting assistance advertisement

Authorization Required


×
×

Images

×

Sign up to receive regular email alerts from Physical Review B

Log In

Cancel
×

Search


Article Lookup

Paste a citation or DOI

Enter a citation
×