Phenomenological XXZ model for the competition between superconductivity and charge order in cuprates

Abstract

We argue that there is a special doping point in the phase diagram of cuprates, such that the condensation of holes into a charge-ordered and a superconducting phase are degenerate in energy but with an energy barrier in between. We present Monte Carlo simulations of a phenomenological XXZ model for this problem without and with quenched disorder in two dimensions. While in the clean case charge order and superconductivity are separated by a first-order line which is nearly independent of temperature, in the presence of quenched disorder charge order is fragmented into domains separated by superconducting filaments reminiscent of the supersolid behaviour in $^4$He. Assuming weak interlayer couplings, the resulting phase diagram of the three-dimensional system is in good agreement with the experiments.