Electronic Liquid Crystal State in the High-Temperature Superconductor YBa <sub>2</sub> Cu <sub>3</sub> O <sub>6.45</sub>
Electronic Liquid Crystal State in the High-Temperature Superconductor YBa <sub>2</sub> Cu <sub>3</sub> O <sub>6.45</sub>
Electronic phases with symmetry properties matching those of conventional liquid crystals have recently been discovered in transport experiments on semiconductor heterostructures and metal oxides at milli-Kelvin temperatures. We report the spontaneous onset of a onedimensional, incommensurate modulation of the spin system in the high-temperature superconductor YBa2Cu3O6.45 upon cooling below ~150 …