Dynamics of metallic stripes in cuprates

We study the dynamics of metallic vertical stripes in cuprates within the three-band Hubbard model based on a recently developed time-dependent Gutzwiller approximation. As doping increases, the optical conductivity shows transfer of spectral weight from the charge-transfer band towards (i) an incoherent band centered at 1.3 eV, (ii) a Drude peak, due mainly to motion along the stripe, and (iii) a low-energy collective mode which softens with doping and merges with (ii) at optimum doping in good agreement with experiment. The softening is related to the quasidegeneracy between Cu-centered and O-centered mean-field stripe solutions close to optimal doping.     

Quantum-critical theory of the spin-fermion model and its application to cuprates: Normal state analysis

We present the full analysis of the normal state properties of the spin-fermion model near the antiferromagnetic instability in two dimensions. The model describes low-energy fermions interacting with their own collective spin fluctuations, which soften at the antiferromagnetic transition. We argue that in 2D, the system has two typical energies—an effective spin-fermion interaction g¯ and an energy ω_sf below which the system behaves as a Fermi liquid. The ratio of the two determines the dimensionless coupling constant for spin-fermion interaction λ² ∝ g¯/ω_sf. We show that λ scales with the spin correlation length and diverges at criticality. This divergence implies that the conventional perturbative expansion breaks down. We develop a novel approach to the problem—the expansion in either the inverse number of hot spots in the Brillouin zone, or the inverse number of fermionic flavours—which allows us to explicitly account for all terms which diverge as powers of λ, and treat the remaining, O(log λ) terms in the RG formalism. We apply this technique to study the properties of the spin-fermion model in various frequency and temperature regimes. We present the results for the fermionic spectral function, spin susceptibility, optical conductivity and other observables. We compare our results in detail with the normal state data for the cuprates, and argue that the spin-fermion model is capable of explaining the anomalous normal state properties of the high T _c materials. We also show that the conventional {⁴ theory of the quantum-critical behaviour is inapplicable in 2D due to the singularity of the {⁴ vertex.     

Gradient expansion for a spiral phase in a spin-fermion model

Starting from a doped spin-fermion model for high-temperature superconductors, we derive an effective continuum theory for the spin degrees of freedom by means of a gradient expansion around a spiral spin configuration. By integrating out the fermions in a path-integral representation, we obtain an effective spin-action. An incommensurate, planar spiral configuration for the spin-background is assumed. The long-wavelength limit is obtained by expanding the effective action in powers of a short distance cutoff. The occurring infinite series can be summed to all orders of the coupling constant by exploiting the constraint that the order parameter lives on a circleS ₁. It is shown that the low-energy limit of the effective action can be mapped onto a O(2) nonlinear model and an additional term due to parity breaking.     

Robust D-wave pairing correlations in a hole-doped spin-fermion model

Pairing correlations are studied numerically in a hole-doped spin-fermion model. Simulations performed on up to 12 x 12 clusters provide indications of D-wave superconductivity away from half-filling comparable to those of the 2D t-J model. The pairing correlations are the strongest in the direction perpendicular to the dynamic stripes that appear in the ground state at some densities. An optimal doping, where correlations are maximized, was observed at approximately 25% doping with an estimated T(c) approximately 100-200 K, in qualitative agreement with high-T(c) cuprates' phenomenology, while pairing correlations are suppressed by static stripe inhomogeneities.     

Metallic mean-field stripes,incommensurability, and chemical potential in cuprates

We perform a systematic slave-boson mean-field analysis of the three-band model for cuprates with first-principle parameters. Contrary to widespread belief based on earlier mean-field computations low doping stripes have a linear density close to 1/2 added hole per lattice constant. We find a dimensional crossover from 1D to 2D at doping approximately 0.1 followed by a breaking of particle-hole symmetry around doping 1/8 as doping increases. Our results explain in a simple way the behavior of the chemical potential, the magnetic incommensurability, and transport experiments as a function of doping. Bond centered and site-centered stripes become degenerate for small overdoping.     

Doped stripes in models for the cuprates emerging from the one-hole properties of the insulator

The extended and standard t-J models are computationally studied on ladders and planes, with emphasis on the small J/t region. At couplings compatible with photoemission results for undoped cuprates, half-doped stripes separating pi-shifted antiferromagnetic (AF) domains are found, as in Tranquada's interpretation of neutron experiments. Our main result is that the elementary stripe "building block" resembles the properties of one hole at small J/t, with robust AF correlations across the hole induced by the local tendency of the charge to separate from the spin. This suggests that the seed of half-doped stripes already exists in the unusual properties of the insulating parent compound.     

Photoemission signatures of valence-bond stripes in cuprates: Long-range vs. short-range order

Recent experiments indicate that the tendency toward the formation of unidirectional charge density waves (“stripes”) is common to various underdoped cuprates. We discuss momentum-resolved spectral properties of valence-bond stripes, comparing the situations of ideal and short-range stripe order, the latter being relevant for weak and/or disorder-pinned stripes. We find clear signatures of ordered stripes, although matrix element effects suppress most shadow band features. With decreasing stripe correlation length, stripe signatures are quickly washed out, the only remaining effect being a broadening of antinodal quasiparticles. This insensitivity of photoemission to short-range stripe order may be employed to distinguish it from nematic order, e.g. in underdoped YBa₂Cu₃O_6+δ.     

Magnetic excitations of stripes near a quantum critical point

We calculate the dynamical spin structure factor of spin waves for weakly coupled stripes. At low energy, the spin-wave cone intensity is strongly peaked on the inner branches. As energy is increased, there is a saddlepoint followed by a square-shaped continuum rotated 45 degrees from the low energy peaks. This is reminiscent of recent high energy neutron scattering data on the cuprates. The similarity at high energy between this semiclassical treatment and quantum fluctuations in spin ladders may be attributed to the proximity of a quantum critical point with a small critical exponent eta.     

Magnetic response of nonmagnetic impurities in cuprates

A theory of the local magnetic response of a nonmagnetic impurity in a doped antiferromagnet, as relevant to the normal-state in cuprates, is presented. It is based on the assumption of the overdamped collective mode in the bulk system and on the evidence that equal-time spin correlations are only weakly renormalized in the vicinity of the impurity. The theory relates the Kondo-like behavior of the local susceptibility to the anomalous temperature dependence of the bulk magnetic susceptibility.     

Isotope effect in the superfluid density of high-temperature superconducting cuprates: stripes, pseudogap, and impurities

Underdoped cuprates exhibit a normal-state pseudogap, and their spins and doped carriers tend to spatially separate into 1D or 2D stripes. Some view these as central to superconductivity and others as peripheral and merely competing. Using La(2-x)Sr(x)Cu(1-y)Zn(y)O4 we show that an oxygen isotope effect in Tc and in the superfluid density can be used to distinguish between the roles of stripes and pseudogap and also to detect the presence of impurity scattering. We conclude that stripes and pseudogap are distinct, and both compete and coexist with superconductivity.     

Magnetic interactions in119Sn substituted for Cu in antiferromagnetic and superconducting lamellar cuprates

Mössbauer Spectroscopy (MS) studies of¹¹⁹Sn were carried out in antiferromagnetic La₂(Cu_0.99Sn_0.01)O₄ (214) and in superconducting GdBa₂(Cu_0.99Sn_0.01)₃O₇(123). Non-magnetic Sn⁴⁺ substitutes for Cu if the right procedure for diffusing¹¹⁹SnO₂ in CuO is carried out. Studies performed in 214 show a large quadrupole splitting (QS) down to 120 K followed by an onset of a magnetic interaction reaching a saturation internal field ofH _eff=8.7(5) kOe atT=30K. From the combined magnetic-quadrupole interaction the angle θ formed byq _zz andH _eff, the η-parameter, and the sign ofQS were deduced and information on the local spin structure is derived. Studies conducted with the 123 material (T _c=90 K) reveal a broad unsplit line at temperatures down to 60 K followed by an abrupt onset of a magnetic interaction corresponding toH _eff (Sn)=8.3(1) kOe. The hyperfine fielddecreases with decreasing temperature reaching 6.0(1) kOe at 16 K. The onset of the magnetic interaction at the¹¹⁹Sn nucleus is explained as due to a local depletion of holes following the Sn⁴⁺ doping and a consequent quenching of the magnetic fluctuations in its vicinity.     

Low-temperature anharmonic vibrations in the cuprates: a bipolaron model

Il Nuovo Cimento D - Starting from the recent experiments that have revealed large-amplitude anharmonic vibrations in the cuprates, the possibility of formation of bipolarons has been investigated....     

Magnetic fluctuations of stripes in the high temperature cuprate superconductors

Within the time-dependent Gutzwiller approximation for the Hubbard model we compute the magnetic fluctuations of vertical metallic stripes with parameters appropriate for La(1.875)Ba(0.125)CuO(4) (LBCO). For bond- and site-centered stripes the excitation spectra are similar, consisting of a low-energy incommensurate acoustic branch which merges into a "resonance peak" at the antiferromagnetic wave vector and several high-energy optical branches. The acoustic branch is similar to the result of theories assuming localized spins whereas the optical branches are significantly different. Results are in good agreement with a recent inelastic neutron study of LBCO.     

Magnetic anisotropy of two-dimensional nanostructures: Transition-metal triangular stripes

The magnetic anisotropy energy (MAE) of one-dimensional stripes having infinite length and triangular lateral structure are investigated in the framework of a self-consistent tight-binding method. One observes discontinuous changes in the easy magnetization direction along the crossover from one to two dimensions. The MAE oscillates as a function of stripe width and depends strongly on the considered transition metal (TM). The MAE of the two-leg ladder is strongly reduced as compared to that of the monoatomic chain and the convergence to the two-dimensional limit is rather slow.     

A Cud-d excitation model for the pairing in the high-T c cuprates

A new model for the pairing mechanism in the ceramic superconductors is presented. Like the magnetic models, we assume the limit of large correlation energies for the Cud electrons. We postulate that the pairing of the Op conduction holes occurs viad–d orbital excitations within thee _g manifold of thed hole of Cu⁺⁺, which is split because of tetragonal or lower symmetry at the Cu sites. This valence conserving charge degree of freedom has been ignored in the magnetic pairing models. Thed–d excitation model may provide a simple qualitative understanding of many experimental results.     

Kondo stripes in an Anderson-Heisenberg model of heavy fermion systems

We study the interplay between the spin-liquid and Kondo physics, as related to the nonmagnetic part of the phase diagram of heavy fermion materials. Within the unrestricted mean-field treatment of the infinite-U 2D Anderson-Heisenberg model, we find that there are two topologically distinct nondegenerate uniform heavy Fermi liquid states that may form as a consequence of the Kondo coupling between spinons and conduction electrons. For certain carrier concentrations, the uniform Fermi liquid becomes unstable with respect to the formation of a new kind of anharmonic "Kondo stripe" state with inhomogeneous Kondo screening strength and the charge density modulation. These features are experimentally measurable and thus may help to establish the relevance of the spin-liquid correlations to heavy fermion materials.     

自旋转向相变中的条纹磁畴研究

用光激发电子显微镜研究了Fe/Ni铁磁膜和Co/Cu/Fe/Ni磁耦合膜中的条纹磁畴. 实验发现：在Fe/Ni体系中,条纹磁畴宽度随着铁层厚度趋近于自旋转向相变点呈指数下降;在Co/Cu/Fe/Ni体系中,Fe/Ni层中的条纹磁畴会沿着钴层磁矩的方向排列,其磁畴宽度会随着Co－Fe/Ni间的层间耦合强度呈指数下降. 理论上推导出条纹磁畴随着磁各向异性能和层间耦合强度变化的统一公式,而实验结果与理论符合得非常好.