Doping-dependent phonon anomaly and charge-order phenomena in the HgBa 2 CuO 4 + δ and HgBa 2 CaCu 2 O 6 + δ superconductors
Using resonant x-ray diffraction and Raman spectroscopy, we study charge correlations and lattice dynamics in two model cuprates, HgBa 2 CuO 4 + δ and HgBa 2 CaCu 2 O 6 + δ . We observe a maximum of the characteristic charge order temperature around the same hole concentration (p ≈ 0.09) in both compounds, and concomitant pronounced anomalies in the lattice dynamics that involve the motion of atoms in and/or adjacent to the CuO 2 layers. These anomalies are already present at room temperature, and therefore precede the formation of the static charge correlations, and we attribute them to an instability of the CuO 2 layers. Our finding implies that the charge order in the cuprates is an emergent phenomenon, driven by a fundamental variation in both lattice and electronic properties as a function of doping.