Photoemission signatures of valence-bond stripes in cuprates: Long-range vs. short-range order

TL;DR

This paper investigates how valence-bond stripe order in cuprates affects photoemission spectra, revealing that long-range order produces distinct signatures while short-range order's effects are subtle, mainly broadening quasiparticles.

Contribution

It compares spectral signatures of ideal and short-range stripe order in cuprates, highlighting the insensitivity of photoemission to short-range stripes and proposing a method to distinguish stripe from nematic order.

Findings

Ordered stripes produce clear spectral signatures.

Short-range stripe order effects are mainly quasiparticle broadening.

Photoemission can differentiate between stripe and nematic orders.

Abstract

Recent experiments indicate that the tendency toward the formation of unidirectional charge density waves ("stripes") is common to various underdoped cuprates. We discuss momentum-resolved spectral properties of valence-bond stripes, comparing the situations of ideal and short-range stripe order, the latter being relevant for weak and/or disorder-pinned stripes. We find clear signatures of ordered stripes, although matrix element effects suppress most shadow band features. With decreasing stripe correlation length, stripe signatures are quickly washed out, the only remaining effect being a broadening of antinodal quasiparticles. This insensitivity of photoemission to short-range stripe order may be employed to distinguish it from nematic order, e.g. in underdoped YBCO.