Lattice symmetry breaking in cuprate superconductors: Stripes, nematics, and superconductivity

TL;DR

This paper reviews recent experimental and theoretical research on lattice symmetry breaking in cuprate superconductors, focusing on nematic and stripe phases and their relation to high-temperature superconductivity.

Contribution

It provides a comprehensive overview of experimental evidence and theoretical models explaining lattice symmetry breaking phenomena in cuprates, highlighting new insights into their origins and implications.

Findings

Evidence for broken rotation and translation symmetry in cuprates

Stripe-like ordering is common in underdoped cuprates

Symmetry breaking tendencies weaken with more CuO₂ layers

Abstract

This article will give an overview on both theoretical and experimental developments concerning states with lattice symmetry breaking in the cuprate high-temperature superconductors. Recent experiments have provided evidence for states with broken rotation as well as translation symmetry, and will be discussed in terms of nematic and stripe physics. Of particular importance here are results obtained using the techniques of neutron and x-ray scattering and scanning tunneling spectroscopy. Ideas on the origin of lattice-symmetry-broken states will be reviewed, and effective models accounting for various experimentally observed phenomena will be summarized. These include both weak-coupling and strong-coupling approaches, with a discussion on their distinctions and connections. The collected experimental data indicate that the tendency toward uni-directional stripe-like ordering is common to underdoped cuprates, but becomes weaker with increasing number of adjacent CuO_2 layers.