Neutron diffraction study of the lattice distortion related to charge ordering in Sr14Cu24O41 -: art. no. 214426

Using elastic neutron scattering on a triple axis spectrometer we have studied the temperature dependence of the crystal structure in Sr14Cu24O41 across the range where charge ordering phenomena are expected. Several superstructure reflections are observed at low temperature which fully disappear above similar to200 K. Most of these reflections can be explained by a modulation of both the chain and the ladder-lattices due to the charge ordering. However, the peak position as well as some weaker reflections point to a close connection between the charge ordering and the modulations of the incommensurate composite structure.