Skip to main content
U.S. Department of Energy
Office of Scientific and Technical Information

Tetragonal-orthorhombic structural modulation at low temperature in La[sub 2[minus][ital x]]Ba[sub [ital x]]CuO[sub 4]

Journal Article · · Physical Review Letters; (United States)
; ; ; ; ;  [1]
  1. Materials Science Division, Brookhaven National Laboratory, Upton, New York 11973 (United States)
Below [similar to]60 K La[sub 2[minus][ital x]]Ba[sub [ital x]]CuO[sub 4] (0.10[le][ital x][le]0.15) reveals superstructure reflections consistent with the tetragonal space group [ital P]4[sub 2]/[ital ncm] [low temperature tetragonal (LTT)]. However, twins, characteristic of the related orthorhombic phase [low temperature orthorhombic (LTO)], persist in this material. Electron microscopy shows that the LTT superstructure reflections originate from the twin-boundary region. This suggests a phase mixture of orthorhombic and tetragonal with a gradual change from LTO (space group [ital Bmab]) in the interior of the two domains, via the [ital Pccn] to LTT at the twin boundary. This is modeled as a spatial modulation, the tipping angle of CuO[sub 6] octahedra being an order parameter.
DOE Contract Number:
AC02-76CH00016
OSTI ID:
6736163
Journal Information:
Physical Review Letters; (United States), Journal Name: Physical Review Letters; (United States) Vol. 73:22; ISSN 0031-9007; ISSN PRLTAO
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English