11:15 AM–2:15 PM, Tuesday, March 17, 2009
- Spirit of Pittsburgh Ballroom BC
Sponsoring Unit:
DCMP
Chair: Eduardo Fradkin, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Abstract ID: BAPS.2009.MAR.J2.2
11:51 AM–12:27 PM
Erez Berg
(Stanford)
In the spin and charge striped-ordered cuprate La$_{1.875}$Ba$_ {0.125}$CuO$_4$, the bulk superconducting T$_c$ is strongly suppressed to about 4K. Nevertheless, recent experiments revealed unusual superconducting fluctuations far above T$_c$. In particular, these experiments show evidence for 2D superconductivity in this 3D (albeit anisotropic) system, which is unpreceded. We propose an explanation of these results in terms of a new phase, the ``striped superconductor", in which the superconducting order parameter is modulated periodically in space and averages to zero. Such a state can naturally explain the apparent vanishing of the inter-layer Josephson coupling in La$_{1.875}$Ba$_{0.125}$CuO$_4$. We discuss several phenomenological features of this phase, including a unique sensitivity to disorder which can lead to an xy ``gauge glass" phase that breaks time reversal symmetry spontaneously. Possible microscopic mechanisms leading to striped superconductivity will be briefly discussed.
To cite this abstract, use the following reference: http://meetings.aps.org/link/BAPS.2009.MAR.J2.2