Periodic density-of-states modulations in superconducting (formula presented)

In this paper we show, using scanning tunneling spectroscopy, the existence of static striped density of electronic states in nearly optimally doped (formula presented) in zero field. The observed modulation is strongest at roughly half the superconducting gap energy and is aligned with the Cu-O bonds, with a periodicity of four lattice constants, exhibiting features characteristic of a two-dimensional system of line objects. These features also exhibit asymmetries between the two orthogonal directions locally, pointing to a possible broken symmetry state (i.e., a stripe phase). We further show that the density of states modulation manifests itself as a shift of states from above to below the superconducting gap. The fact that a single energy scale (i.e., the gap) appears for both superconductivity and stripes suggests that these two effects have the same microscopic origin.