Fig. 1: Schematic real-space illustration of the disordered charge density wave (CDW) in YBa2Cu3O6.67.

a Representative CDW stacking sequences along the c-axis at low and high magnetic field for a fixed point in the a-b plane. A and B represent the two possible phases in the CDW modulation in each bilayer14. b Extension to the b-c plane. Spatially separated regions where the F-CDW (ℓ = 1) and AF-CDW (ℓ = 1 ∕ 2) correlations in a are present. c, d Idealised diffraction intensity for the F-CDW and AF-CDW correlations at high field.