Structural Phase Separation and Enhanced Superconductivity in La1.875Ba0.125CuO4 under Uniaxial Strain

Abstract

Strain engineering has attracted significant attention in recent years due to its capability in tuning lattice and electronic structures of quantum materials. Using moderate uniaxial compressive strain, we induce structural phase separation in the low-temperature phase of x=1/8 La2-xBaxCuO4 (LBCO) single crystals. These structures are low temperature tetragonal (LTT), low temperature less orthorhombic (LTLO), and a plastically deformed nano-domain structure (PDNS), comprised of few-nanometer-sized orthorhombic domains within an amorphous matrix. These three structures exhibit distinct superconducting behaviors. The volume fraction of the LTT structure is suppressed with increasing strain, while its superconducting transition temperature increases and broadens. The LTLO structure exhibits a sharp superconducting transition above 32 K, which increases up to ~36 K at maximum strain. The PDNS phase exhibits a very broad superconducting transition and persists even after removing the strain. Our study illustrates the sensitivity of superconductivity to the structure of the LBCO sample near its stripe instability.