Figure 5: Electronic liquid crystal physics in La1.8−xEu0.2SrxCuO4.
From: Unconventional charge order in a co-doped high-Tc superconductor
Three proposed phases are depicted schematically, according to the stripe melting model of refs 17, 18: the charge-stripe phase below TCO, the loop nematic phase between TCO and TEN, and the (tentative) loop metal phase with strong nematic fluctuations above TEN. Only joined stripe ends exist in both nematic and loop metal phase; other stripe lines are assumed to extend out of the pictures. In a realistic, disordered material, the phase transition at TCO is smeared out and charge stripes become glassy, whereas the nematic order remains sharply defined.
