Locally commensurate charge-density wave with three-unit-cell periodicity in YBaCuO.

In order to identify the mechanism responsible for the formation of charge-density waves (CDW) in cuprate superconductors, it is important to understand which aspects of the CDW's microscopic structure are generic and which are material-dependent. Here, we show that, at the local scale probed by NMR, long-range CDW order in YBaCuO is unidirectional with a commensurate period of three unit cells (λ = 3b), implying that the incommensurability found in X-ray scattering is ensured by phase slips (discommensurations). Furthermore, NMR spectra reveal a predominant oxygen character of the CDW with an out-of-phase relationship between certain lattice sites but no specific signature of a secondary CDW with λ = 6b associated with a putative pair-density wave.

Spin susceptibility of charge-ordered YBaCuO across the upper critical field.

The value of the upper critical field , a fundamental characteristic of the superconducting state, has been subject to strong controversy in high- copper oxides. Since the issue has been tackled almost exclusively by macroscopic techniques so far, there is a clear need for local-probe measurements. Here, we use O NMR to measure the spin susceptibility [Formula: see text] of the CuO planes at low temperature in charge-ordered YBaCuO We find that [Formula: see text] increases (most likely linearly) with magnetic field and saturates above field values ranging from 20 T to 40 T.