@misc{MiaoFumagalliRossietal., author = {Miao, Hu and Fumagalli, Roberto and Rossi, M. and Lorenzana, Jos{\´e} and Seibold, G{\"o}tz and Yakhou-Harris, Flora and Kummer, K. and Brookes, Nicholas B. and Gu, G. D. and Braicovich, Lucio and Ghiringhelli, Giacomo Claudio and Dean, M. P. M.}, title = {Formation of Incommensurate Charge Density Waves in Cuprates}, series = {Physical Review X}, volume = {9}, journal = {Physical Review X}, number = {3}, issn = {2160-3308}, doi = {10.1103/PhysRevX.9.031042}, pages = {031042-1 -- 031042-11}, abstract = {Although charge density waves (CDWs) are omnipresent in cuprate high-temperature superconductors, they occur at significantly different wave vectors, confounding efforts to understand their formation mechanism. Here, we use resonant inelastic x-ray scattering to investigate the doping- and temperature-dependent CDW evolution in La₂₋ₓBaₓCuO₄ (x=0.115-0.155). We discover that the CDW develops in two stages with decreasing temperature. A precursor CDW with a quasicommensurate wave vector emerges first at high temperature. This doping-independent precursor CDW correlation originates from the CDW phase mode coupled with a phonon and "seeds" the low-temperature CDW with a strongly doping-dependent wave vector. Our observation reveals the precursor CDW and its phase mode as the building blocks of the highly intertwined electronic ground state in the cuprates.}, language = {en} }