Research report 2010 - Max Planck Institute for Solid State Research

Nematic order of electrons in solids

Authors
Metzner, Walter
Departments
Abteilung Metzner
Max-Planck-Institut für Festkörperforschung, Stuttgart
Summary
Theoretical considerations indicated that, under suitable circumstances, conduction electrons in metallic solids may assume an ordered state with a preferred direction for the electron motion. This nematic order breaks an orientational symmetry of the underlying crystal, but not the translation invariance. Nematic order of electrons has now been observed in a high temperature superconductor and another transition metal oxide compound.

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