Modeling of Superconducting Stripe Phases in High-Tc Cuprates

TL;DR

This paper introduces a Hartree-Fock approach to model stripe phases in high-Tc cuprates, revealing regimes where stripe order coexists with different types of superconductivity, aligning with experimental observations.

Contribution

It provides a unified theoretical framework to analyze the coexistence of stripe order and superconductivity in cuprates, clarifying different experimental regimes.

Findings

Identification of two regimes with different stripe-superconductivity coexistence

Compatibility of experimental data with these regimes

Proposal of an intermediate coupling regime at x=1/8

Abstract

Even before the experimental discovery of spin- and charge-stripe order in La$_{2-x-y}$Nd$_y$Sr$_x$CuO$_4$ and La$_{2-x}$Ba$_x$CuO$_4$ at x = 1/8, stripe formation was predicted from theoretical considerations. Nevertheless, a consistent description of the complex coexistence of stripe order with superconductivity has remained a challenge. Here we introduce a Hartree-Fock decoupling scheme which unifies previous approaches and allows for a detailed analysis of the competition between antiferromagnetism and superconductivity in real and momentum space. We identify two distinct parameter regimes, where spin-stripe order coexists with either one- or two-dimensional superconductivity; experiments on different striped cuprates are either compatible with the former or the latter regime. We argue that the cuprates at x = 1/8 fall into an intermediate coupling regime with a crossover to long-range phase coherence between individual superconducting stripes.