Speaker
Description
During the last decade, translational and rotational symmetry-breaking phases — density wave order and electronic nematicity — have been established as generic and distinct features of many correlated electron systems, including pnictide and cuprate superconductors. However, in cuprates, the relationship between these electronic symmetry-breaking phases and the enigmatic pseudogap phase remains unclear. I this talk, I will discuss our efforts to employ resonant x-ray scattering in a cuprate high-temperature superconductor (Nd-LSCO) to probe the relationship between electronic nematicity, charge order, and the pseudogap phase. We find evidence for a considerable decrease in electronic nematicity beyond the pseudogap phase, either by raising the temperature through the pseudogap onset temperature T or increasing doping through the pseudogap quantum critical point, p. These results establish a clear link between electronic nematicity, the pseudogap, and its associated quantum criticality in overdoped cuprates. Our findings anticipate that electronic nematicity may play a larger role in understanding the cuprate phase diagram than previously recognized.
