title: Magnetostriction and Magnetostructural Domains in Antiferromagnetic YBa2Cu3O6.
abstract: We use high-resolution neutron Larmor diffraction and capacitative dilatometry to investigate spontaneous and forced magnetostriction in undoped, antiferromagnetic YBa_{2}Cu_{3}O_{6.0}, the parent compound of a prominent family of high-temperature superconductors. Upon cooling below the Néel temperature T_{N}=420  K, Larmor diffraction reveals the formation of magnetostructural domains of characteristic size ∼240  nm. In the antiferromagnetic state, dilatometry reveals a minute (4×10^{-6}) orthorhombic distortion of the crystal lattice in external magnetic fields. We attribute these observations to exchange striction and spin-orbit coupling induced magnetostriction, respectively, and show that they have an important influence on the thermal and charge transport properties of undoped and lightly doped cuprates.
authors.affiliation: Max-Planck-Institut für Festkörperforschung, Heisenbergstraße 1, D-70569 Stuttgart, Germany.
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Náfrádi
authors.affiliation: Max-Planck-Institut für Festkörperforschung, Heisenbergstraße 1, D-70569 Stuttgart, Germany.|Max Planck Society Outstation at the Heinz Maier-Leibnitz Zentrum (MLZ), D-85748 Garching, Germany.
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Keller
authors.affiliation: Institut für Festkörperphysik, Karlsruher Institut für Technlogie (KIT), D-76344 Eggenstein-Leopoldshafen, Germany.
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Hardy
authors.affiliation: Institut für Festkörperphysik, Karlsruher Institut für Technlogie (KIT), D-76344 Eggenstein-Leopoldshafen, Germany.
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Meingast
authors.affiliation: Walter Meissner Institut für Tieftemperaturforschung D-85748 Garching, Germany.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Erb
authors.affiliation: Max-Planck-Institut für Festkörperforschung, Heisenbergstraße 1, D-70569 Stuttgart, Germany.
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Keimer