Polar, checkerboard charge order in bilayer nickelate La3Ni2O7

Fuente: arXiv
Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Misawa, Ryo, Kitou, Shunsuke, Sun, Jian-Ping, Yu, Yingpeng, Koyama, Chihaya, Nakamura, Yuiga, Arima, Taka-hisa, Cheng, Jin-Guang, Hirschberger, Max
Format: Preprint
Published: 2026
Subjects:
Online Access:
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
_version_ 1866918409795534848
author Misawa, Ryo
Kitou, Shunsuke
Sun, Jian-Ping
Yu, Yingpeng
Koyama, Chihaya
Nakamura, Yuiga
Arima, Taka-hisa
Cheng, Jin-Guang
Hirschberger, Max
author_facet Misawa, Ryo
Kitou, Shunsuke
Sun, Jian-Ping
Yu, Yingpeng
Koyama, Chihaya
Nakamura, Yuiga
Arima, Taka-hisa
Cheng, Jin-Guang
Hirschberger, Max
contents Competing charge and spin orders are central to uncovering the nature of unconventional superconductivity. Here we utilize synchrotron X-ray diffraction on a high-quality single crystal to reveal the charge order of La$_3$Ni$_2$O$_7$ at ambient pressure, which competes with the high-temperature superconducting phase under pressure. Enabled by the high synchrotron photon flux and a large dynamic range, we resolve faint reflections -- nearly four orders of magnitude weaker than the main Bragg reflections -- that were overlooked in prior diffraction studies. This observation evidences a broken glide-mirror symmetry, leading to a polar crystal structure, rather than the widely used centrosymmetric structure model. The polarity is induced by checkerboard charge order on nickel sites in combination with octahedral tilting, reminiscent of bilayer manganese oxides. Our results provide a foundation for understanding phase competition and the mechanism of pressure-induced superconductivity in bilayer nickelates.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2603_25119
institution arXiv
publishDate 2026
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Polar, checkerboard charge order in bilayer nickelate La3Ni2O7
Misawa, Ryo
Kitou, Shunsuke
Sun, Jian-Ping
Yu, Yingpeng
Koyama, Chihaya
Nakamura, Yuiga
Arima, Taka-hisa
Cheng, Jin-Guang
Hirschberger, Max
Superconductivity
Strongly Correlated Electrons
Competing charge and spin orders are central to uncovering the nature of unconventional superconductivity. Here we utilize synchrotron X-ray diffraction on a high-quality single crystal to reveal the charge order of La$_3$Ni$_2$O$_7$ at ambient pressure, which competes with the high-temperature superconducting phase under pressure. Enabled by the high synchrotron photon flux and a large dynamic range, we resolve faint reflections -- nearly four orders of magnitude weaker than the main Bragg reflections -- that were overlooked in prior diffraction studies. This observation evidences a broken glide-mirror symmetry, leading to a polar crystal structure, rather than the widely used centrosymmetric structure model. The polarity is induced by checkerboard charge order on nickel sites in combination with octahedral tilting, reminiscent of bilayer manganese oxides. Our results provide a foundation for understanding phase competition and the mechanism of pressure-induced superconductivity in bilayer nickelates.
title Polar, checkerboard charge order in bilayer nickelate La3Ni2O7
topic Superconductivity
Strongly Correlated Electrons
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2603.25119