https://doi.org/10.1140/epjb/e2004-00385-4
On the stability of hole crystals in layered cuprates
1
Istituto Nazionale di Fisica della Materia and
Dipartimento di Fisica,
Università dell'Aquila, via Vetoio, 67010 Coppito-L'Aquila, Italy
2
Laboratoire d'Études des Propriétés Électroniques des
Solides, CNRS
BP166 - 25, Avenue des Martyrs, 38042 Grenoble
Cedex 9, France
Corresponding author: a fratini@grenoble.cnrs.fr
Received:
14
June
2004
Published online:
23
December
2004
Recent STM measurements have revealed the existence of periodic charge modulations at the surface of certain cuprate superconductors. Here we show that the observed patterns are compatible with the formation of a three-dimensional crystal of doped holes, with space correlations extending between different Cu-O layers. This puts severe constraints on the dynamical stability of the crystallised hole structure, resulting in a close relationship between the periodicity of the electronic modulation and the interlayer distance.
PACS: 74.72.-h – Cuprate superconductors (high-Tc and insulating parent compounds) / 71.30.+h – Metal-insulator transitions and other electronic transitions / 71.38.-k – Polarons and electron-phonon interactions
© EDP Sciences, Società Italiana di Fisica, Springer-Verlag, 2004
