Atomic distortions reveal potential superconductor's charge density wave.
Scientists at Brookhaven National Laboratory have used a spectroscopic imaging scanning tunneling microscope to study the relationship between the lattice structure and electronic structure of a copper-oxide superconductor. They found that the disappearance of vibrational energy from the atoms that make up the material's crystal lattice was linked to the emergence of a "charge density wave" - a modular distribution of charge density in the material. The appearance of this pattern distorts the normal vibrations of the atoms and shifts their positions along the direction of the "rungs."