Uniaxial pressure investigation of charge order in superconducting HgBa2CuO4+x

The many families of cuprate high temperature superconductors (HTSC) have common electronic properties besides superconductivity, but possess structural and chemical differences that can complicate the identification of those universal features that are necessary for the understanding of the superconducting mechanism. All cuprates show a propensity towards quasi 2D short-ranged charge ordering (2D CO) that competes with superconductivity, however a long-range 3D CO state has so far only been observed in YBa2Cu3Oy (YBCO) after application of high magnetic fields (B>20 T) or uniaxial pressures that are able to weaken superconductivity (SC). The aim of the current proposal is to explore whether uniaxial pressure strengthens 2D CO in single layer tetragonal HgBa2CuO4+x (Hg1201) similarly to YBCO and whether strain is eventually able to induce a 3D CO state. This proposal would benchmark whether 3D CO is a universal feature relevant for cuprate HTSC.