Behavior of positive muons in highT c superconductors La2−x Sr x CuO4

An unambiguous determination of the ⁺ location in the highT _c LaSrCuO superconductor is made through zero-field spin relaxation in the paramagnetic phase and its crystal axis dependence by using single crystalline samples. The temperature dependence of the relaxation rates has a maximum between 80 and 150 K, indicating the existence of the onset of quantum diffusion at low temperature.     

Pressure Effects in the Raman Spectra of La 2−x Sr x CuO 4

Micro-Raman measurements under hydrostatic pressures up to 6 GPa have been carried out on high-quality La 2 m x Sr x CuO 4 polycrystalline compounds with Sr concentration up to x =0.45. The zz scattering polarization has been investigated, where two strong modes due to La/Sr and the apex oxygen, and (in the low Sr concentrations) the soft mode at ～100 cm m 1 are observed. The frequency of the strong modes increases almost linearly with pressure for the Sr concentrations studied. Modifications in the increment rate d y /d p and the phonon width have been detected depending on the amount of doping. For x =0.45 a considerable increase in the width of both strong phonons with pressure was found, which must reflect a separation into phases, since this concentration is close to the solubility limit. The relative intensity of the strong phonons was investigated in connection with its correlation to the transition temperature.     

Observation of magnetic order of Cu-moment aroundx=0.12 in La2−x Ba x CuO4 and La2−x sr x CuO4 by μ+SR

Zero field positive muon spin rotation method ( ⁺SR) is applied on La_2–x Sr _x CuO₄ around forx=0.12 at which the high-T _c superconductivity (SC) is suppressed. The magnetically ordered state of Cu-moments, which is not a spin glass state but an antiferromagnetic like state, appears below 15 K for 0.105x0.120. The magnetic phase boundary is very similar to the one of the La_2–x Ba _x CuO₄ in which the structural transition from the low temperature orthorhombic (LTO) phase to the low temperature tetragonal (LTT) phase is observed aroundx=0.12. The present study suggests that there is no big difference of the electronic state of the CuO₂ plane between the La-Ba system and the La-Sr system and that the magnetic ordering of Cu-moments plays an important role for the suppression of the high-T _c SC aroundx=0.12 in both of the systems, although the LTO-LTT structural transition has not been observed yet in the La-Sr system.     

μSR and NMR investigations on electronic and magnetic state aroundx=0.12 in La2−x Sr x CuO4 and La2−x Ba x ;CuO4

The muon spin rotation ( ⁺SR) and NMR measurements provides clear evidences of the antiferromagnetic order of Cu-moment below 35 K for La_2–x Ba _x CuO₄ and below 15 K for La_2–x Sr _x CuO₄ in the narrow range ofx where the high-T _c superconductivity (SC) is suppressed remarkably. The results suggest that the freezing of spin fluctuations of Cu-moment is relevant to the local suppression of SC under an change of the electronic state coupled with the lattice instability.     

Fermi surface evolution in the ensemble of spin-polarized quasiparticles in La2 − x Sr x CuO4

For the spin-fermion model, it has been shown that the concept of spin polarons makes it possible to reproduce fine details of the Fermi surface evolution in the nodal direction of La_{2 ? x} Sr _x CuO₄ occurring with changes in the doping level x. The physics here is determined by the spin-correlated hopping of charge carriers and by the doping dependence of the inverse magnetic correlation length.     

Introduction of bismuth into the highT c superconductor La2−x Sr x CuO4−y

Novel high-T _c superconductors La_2–x Bi _x Sr _x–x CuO_4–y have been isolated and studied. The influence of the experimental conditions of synthesis on the superconductivity has been especially studied for the composition La_1.7Bi_0.1Sr_0.2CuO_4–y ; it is shown thatT _c decreases as oxygen is introduced into the matrix, likely due to the partial oxidation of Bi(III) to Bi(V). The highT _c value observed for one sample (T _c 42 K), as compared withT _c 38 K of La_1.8Sr_0.2CuO_4–y suggests that bismuth is also a potential candidate for improving the superconducting properties in these oxides.     

NQR study of spin-freezing in superconducting La2−x Sr x CuO4: the example ofx = 0.06

Nuclear quadrupole resonance (NQR)¹³⁹La and⁶³Cu spin-lattice relaxation rateT ₁ ^t-1 measurements in a La_1.94Sr_0.06CuO₄ single crystal are described. Slowing-down of Cu²⁺ spin fluctuations is evidenced through a dramatic increase of¹³⁹ T ₁ ^?1 on cooling. While the onset of diamagnetism occurs atT _c = 8 K,¹³⁹ T ₁ ^?1 has a peak atT _g ? 5 K, when the characteristic frequency of magnetic fluctuations reaches the NQR frequencyv _Q ? 9 MHz. In agreement with a number of previous studies, these results show that the so-called “cluster spin-glass” phase persists in the superconducting regime. Issues concerning the coexistence of the two phases are discussed.     

Coexistence of superconductivity and magnetism in single crystalline highT c superconductor La2−x Sr x CuO4 revealed by the muon spin relaxation method

The positive muon (⁺) spin relaxation method under zero external field is applied to probe magnetic ordering in the superconducting phase of a high quality single crystal of La_2–x Sr _x CuO₄ (0.10<x<0.15). A series of well characterized crystals with nearly complete flux exclusion were found to exhibit a magnetic ordering with transition temperature depending onx with a peak atx=0.11. Possible explanations are given.     

Effect of local atomic phase separation in the x-ray absorption near edge structure spectroscopy of FeSexTe1−x

Ab initio X-ray absorption near edge structure (XANES) calculations for FeSe_xTe_1−x, using a structural model that combines FeSe and FeTe phases at the nanoscale, are compared with Fe K-edge XANES measurements in the “pre-edge” region. The important aspects of this model are (i) magnetic order in the FeTe phase; (ii) Se and Te atoms placed randomly in both FeSe and FeTe crystallographic positions and; (iii) the two distinct distances for Fe–Se and Fe–Te of the bulk phases. The calculated spectra reproduce the observed increase of spectral weight in the experiments on FeSe_xTe_1−x with Se concentration. This is consistent with an inhomogeneous local electronic structure of FeSe_xTe_1−x. Additionally, we have calculated projected electronic density of d-states for the Fe atom, revealing increased spectral weight in the “pre-edge” region of the XANES spectra, which correlates with the increase in Se concentration. The decrease of calculated Fe d-density of states for the Fermi level, N(ε_F), for high Te content is consistent with the suppression of superconductivity in the title system.     

Calcium doping effects in57Fe : La2−x Ca x CuO4−y oxides

La_2–x Ca _x Cu_0.99Fe_0.01O_4–y samples with 0.00 x 0.30 were studied by X-ray diffraction and Mössbauer spectroscopy after heat treatment under different atmospheres (air, oxygen and helium). The variation of the relative population and the hyperfine interactions of the sites as well as the change in the lattice parameters were obtained.On leave from National Center for Scientific Research, PO Box 6990, Havana, Cuba.     

Peculiarities of Raman spectra and phase states in Pb x Sr1−x TiO3 solid solutions with low lead concentration

Micro-Raman study of Pb _x Sr_{1 ? x} TiO₃ (x = 0.005, 0.01, 0.02, 0.03, or 0.04) solid solutions has been performed in the frequency range 15–1200 cm^?1 at several temperatures in the range 10–300 K. The results obtained suggest that the concentration region x < 0.04 in Pb _x Sr_{1 ? x} TiO₃ solid solutions should most likely be considered as heterophase.     

Location of superconductivity in La2-βSrβCuO4

Evidence is presented that the superconductivity of La_{2 ?β} Sr_β CuO₄ and La₂CuO4_+δ occurs via holes in the LaO planes, rather than in the CuO₂ planes.     

Elastic and inelastic neutron scattering studies on the tetragonal to orthorhombic phase transition of La2−x Sr x CuO4±δ

The phase transition from the tetragonal to the orthorhombic structure in La_2–x Sr _x CuO₄₊ has been studied combining elastic and inelastic neutron scattering and specific heat measurements on the same well characterized crystals. This analysis focusses on the comparison between undoped and doped compounds. The proportionality between the orderparameter and the orthorhombic strain, predicted by the Landau theory, can be confirmed in La_2–x Sr _x CuO₄₊ in a wide concentration and temperature range. We observe different values for the critical exponent for doped superconducting and undoped insulating crystals. The temperature dependent study of the soft modes on a metallic superconducting crystal reveals an extremely large temperature range where this mode is strongly anharmonic. The comparison with previously published data shows that the frequencies of the soft modes at low temperatures decrease with doping, i.e. with increasing charge carrier concentration.     

Growth mechanism, microstructure and transport properties of Sr1−x La x CuO2 (x=0.10−0.15) thin films

Sr_1−x La _x CuO₂ (x=0.10−0.15) thin films with an infinite-layer type structure were grown on BaTiO₃ buffered (001) SrTiO₃ substrates by pulsed laser deposition (PLD). The evolution of the growth front was monitored, in-situ, by high-pressure reflection high-energy electron diffraction (RHEED), while the surface morphology was analyzed by means of atomic force microscopy (AFM), ex-situ. X-ray diffraction (XRD) was used to determine the evolution of the film structure with deposition and cooling parameters, as well as to study the type and level of epitaxial strain in the Sr_1−x La _x CuO₂ films. The RHEED data showed that the Sr_1−x La _x CuO₂ films grow on BaTiO₃/SrTiO₃ following a 2D or Stranski-Krastanov mechanism, depending on the La doping level. The transition point (critical thickness d _c) from layer-by-layer like (2D) to island (3D) growth depends on the film stoichiometry: decreasing the La doping concentration x from 0.15 to 0.10, the critical thickness d _c increases from ∼45 nm to ∼75 nm. In order to induce superconductivity, the Sr_1−x La _x CuO₂ films were cooled down under reduction conditions. The as-deposited films showed semiconducting or metallic behavior, the resistivity decreasing with increasing La concentration. Post-deposition vacuum annealing resulted in a superconducting transition onset (but no zero resistance down to 4.2 K) only for some of the x=0.15 Sr_1−x La _x CuO₂ films.     

Competition of magnetic order and superconductivity investigated by positive muon spin rotation in La2−x M x CuO4 (M = Ba,Sr) aroundx=0.12

Muon spin rotation (SR) is applied to La_2–x Ba _x CuO₄ aroundx=0.12 where the superconductivity (SC) is suppressed remarkably. The magnetic ordering of Cu-moments appears below 35 K in the narrow range ofx where a lattice instability from the low temperature orthorhombic (LTO) to the low-temperature tetragonal (LTT) structure exists. The present study suggests strongly that the magnetic ordering of Cu-moments is an important factor in the suppression of high-T _c superconductivity aroundx=0.12 in La_2–x Ba _x CuO₄. Similar results are obtained for the La_2–x Sr _x CuO₄ and La_2–x–y Sr _x Nd _y CuO₄ systems.     

Resistive properties of La2 ? x Sr x CuO4 low-dopped cuprates in the antiferromagnetic state at low temperatures

The nonlinear dependence of conductivity and negative differential resistance of ceramic samples of La_{2 ? x} Sr _x CuO₄ in the antiferromagnetic state is revealed. The possible influence of a spatially inhomoge-neous distribution of strontium impurities on the low-temperature behavior of conductivity is discussed.     

Oxygen isotope effect in disordered underdoped and overdoped La2−xSrxCu1−yZnyO4 superconductors

The effect of oxygen isotopic substitution on the superconducting transition temperature has been studied for heavily underdoped and overdoped La_2?xSr_xCu_1?yZn_yO₄ compounds with different Zn contents in the CuO₂ plane. The effect of Zn on the isotope coefficient, α, was significantly more pronounced in the case of the underdoped (x = 0.09) compounds compared to the overdoped (x = 0.22) ones. The variation of α with disorder content can be described quite well within a model based solely on Cooper pair-breaking in the case of the underdoped compounds. This model fails to describe the behavior of α(y) for the overdoped samples, even though Zn still suppresses T_c very effectively at this hole (Sr) content, indicating that the Zn induced pair-breaking is still very much at play. We discuss the implications of these findings in details by considering the Zn induced magnetism, stripe correlations, and possible changes in the superconducting order parameter as hole content in the CuO₂ plane, p (≡x), is varied.     

Theory for the Gaussian Component of the 63Cu Nuclear Spin-Echo Decay Rate 1/T 2G in La2−x Sr x CuO4

We report calculations of the Gaussian component of the ⁶³Cu nuclear spin-echo decay rate 1/T _2G employing the theory for spin susceptibility as derived within the t-J model starting from carrier-free La₂CuO₄ and right up to optimally doped superconducting layered copper oxide La_2?x Sr _x CuO₄. The theory reproduces the temperature and doping behavior of the experimental data for 1/T _2G. A quantitative agreement with experimental 1/T _2G data in doped La_2?x Sr _x CuO₄ compounds is obtained with account of both the spin–spin and “fermion”–“fermion” correlations.     

Superconducting and magnetic properties of the oxide superconductors La1.85Sr0.15Cu1−xFexO4

Mössbauer and magnetic measurements have been made in the perovskite superconductors La_1.85Sr_0.15Cu_1−x ⁵⁷Fe_xO₄ for x=0.0025, 0.005, 0.01, 0.05 and 0.10. The superconducting transition temperature is rapidly depressed as x increases, reaching T_c=0 for x≈0.03. Mössbauer data for x=0.05 show behavior below ≈15 K which indicates magnetic ordering. Magnetic susceptibility data give an effective moment of 3–4 μ_B/Fe atom, and a hand-like susceptibility which increases with x.