Short Range Smectic and Long Range Nematic Order in the Pseudogap Phase of Cuprates

TL;DR

This paper proposes a model explaining the coexistence of short-range smectic and long-range nematic orders in cuprates' pseudogap phase, linking stripe-like charge density waves and strain-induced nematicity.

Contribution

It introduces a combined model of stripe order and nematicity, emphasizing the role of disorder and strain in their spatial characteristics in cuprates.

Findings

Stripe order as a charge density wave with Peierls distortion

Disorder limits stripe order to nanoscale domains

Strain coupling extends nematic order over longer distances

Abstract

We present a model for the combined nematic and `smectic' or stripe-like orders seen in recent scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) experiments in cuprates. We model the stripe order as an electronic charge density wave with associated Peierls distortion -- a `Pomeranchuk wave'. Disorder restricts this primary order to nanoscale domains, while secondary coupling to strain generates nematic order with considerably longer range.