Unveiling Charge Order Beyond Superconductivity: RIXS in Zn-doped YBCO

Charge density waves (CDW) and fluctuations (CDF), are diffusively present in cuprate high-Tc superconductors (HTS) and experimental evidence points toward their influence in determining the unconventional transport properties of this class of materials. However, one of the greatest challenges to study charge order in HTS is given by their complex intertwining with the superconducting order below Tc. To overcome this problem, we propose here the very first RIXS study of CDW and CDF in Zn-doped YBCO samples, where superconductivity is suppressed by the Zn atoms partly substituting Cu atoms. Our measurements will enable to track the evolution of CDW and CDF in a range of temperatures where usually superconductivity modifies the charge order properties. Ultimately, we expect to determine if CDF follow a critical behaviour towards zero temperature, i.e., to understand if they are indeed connected to a strange metal quantum critical point and, in case, if this criticality is anomalous.