Electrical Resistivity Anisotropy from Self-Organized One Dimensionality in High-Temperature Superconductors

Abstract
We investigate the manifestation of stripes in the in-plane resistivity anisotropy in untwinned single crystals of La2xSrxCuO4 ( x=0.020.04) and YBa2Cu3Oy ( y=6.357.0). It is found that both systems show strongly temperature-dependent in-plane anisotropy in the lightly hole-doped region and that the anisotropy in YBa2Cu3Oy grows with decreasing y below 6.60 despite the decreasing orthorhombicity, which gives most direct evidence that electrons self-organize into a macroscopically anisotropic state. The transport is found to be easier along the direction of the spin stripes already reported, demonstrating that the stripes are intrinsically conducting in cuprates.