Evidence of chiral order in the charge-ordered phase of superconducting la 1.875 Ba 0.125 Cuo 4 single crystals using polar kerr-effect measurements

Author(s): Karapetyan, H; Xia, J; Hucker, M; Gu, GD; Tranquada, JM; Fejer, MM; Kapitulnik, A | Abstract: High resolution polar Kerr effect measurements were performed on La1.875Ba0.125CuO4 single crystals revealing that a finite Kerr signal is measured below an onset temperature TK that coincides with the charge ordering transition temperature TCO. We further show that the sign of the Kerr signal cannot be trained with the magnetic field, is found to be the same on opposite sides of the same crystal, and is odd with respect to strain in the diagonal direction of the unit cell. These observations are consistent with a chiral "gyrotropic" order above Tc for La1.875Ba0.125CuO4; similarities to other cuprates suggest that it is a universal property in the pseudogap regime. © 2014 American Physical Society.