Pronounced in-plane anisotropy of phonon anomalies in YBa2Cu3O6.6 -: art. no. 037001

The dispersion of the Cu-O bond-stretching and bond-bending vibrations in YBa2Cu3O6.6 has been studied by high resolution inelastic neutron scattering. While the behavior of the bond-bending vibrations can be well accounted for by a simple potential model, the bond-stretching vibrations show a highly anomalous behavior. The displacement pattern of the most anomalous phonons is in principle consistent with dynamic charge stripe formation. However, charge stripes would have to extend along the a axis and not the b axis as inferred from the magnetic fluctuations by Mook et al. [Nature (London) 404, 729 (2000)].