Local inversion-symmetry breaking in a bismuthate high-T c superconductor

Abstract

Superconductivity was discovered in the bismuthate (Ba,K)BiO3 soon after the discovery of the cuprate high-temperature superconductors. Here, the authors study (Ba,K)BiO3 using diffuse x-ray scattering and Monte Carlo modeling, finding that nanoscale structural correlations break inversion symmetry locally, while preserving inversion symmetry on average over large length scales.