Pair density wave, charge density wave and vortex in high Tc cuprates

TL;DR

This paper investigates charge density waves and pair density waves in high-temperature cuprates, proposing models that explain recent STM observations and their relation to pseudogap physics and vortex structures.

Contribution

It introduces models of PDW with period 8, analyzing their role near vortices and their signatures in STM experiments, advancing understanding of CDW and PDW interplay in cuprates.

Findings

PDW can be pinned by vortex core due to phase winding.

Period 8 CDW shows split Fourier peaks in certain directions.

Proposes experimental signatures to distinguish PDW-driven CDW.

Abstract

A recent scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) experiment reports the observation of charge density wave (CDW) with period of approximately 8a in the halo region surrounding the vortex core, in striking contrast to the approximately period 4a CDW that are commonly observed in the cuprates. Inspired by this work, we study a model where a bi-directional pair density wave (PDW) with period 8 is at play. This further divides into two classes, (1) where the PDW is a competing state of the d wave superconductor and can exist only near the vortex core where the d wave order is suppressed, and (2) where the PDW is the primary order, the so called mother state that persists with strong phase fluctuations to high temperature and high magnetic field and lies behind the pseudogap phenomenology. We study the charge density wave structures near the vortex core in these models. We emphasize the importance of the phase winding of the d-wave order parameter. The PDW can be pinned by the vortex core due to this winding and become static. Furthermore, the period 8 CDW inherits the properties of this winding, which gives rise to a special feature of the Fourier transform peak, namely, it is split in certain directions. There are also a line of zeros in the inverse Fourier transform of filtered data. We propose that these are key experimental signatures that can distinguish between the PDW-driven scenario from the more mundane option that the period 8 CDW is primary. We discuss the pros and cons of the options considered above. Finally we attempt to place the STM experiment in the broader context of pseudogap physics of underdoped cuprates and relate this observation to the unusual properties of X ray scattering data on CDW carried out to very high magnetic field.