The coupling of charge density wave and host structure in La2-xSrxCuO4

Soon after the discovery of superconductivity in the cuprates it was proposed by Zaanen, Gunnarsson, and Machida that they should also show charge/stripe order for a dopings near p=1/8. Recent experiments have shown the uniaxial stress can indeed create a 1-D stripe structure in La2-xSrxCuO4. Here we propose to study the structure of La2-xSrxCuO4 under uniaxial stress to see how it is modified. This will allow us to determine whether 1-D stripe patterns are intrinsic to the CuO2 planes or due to a coupling to a low symmetry host structure.