We present results of magnetic neutron diffraction experiments on the co-doped super-oxygenated La(2-x)Sr(x)CuO(4+y) (LSCO+O) system with x=0.09. The spin-density wave has been studied and we find long-range incommensurate antiferromagnetic order below T_N coinciding with the superconducting ordering temperature T_c=40 K. The incommensurability value is consistent with a hole-doping of n_h~1/8, but in contrast to non-superoxygenated La(2-x)Sr(x)CuO(4) with hole-doping close to n_h ~ 1/8 the magnetic order parameter is not field-dependent. We attribute this to the magnetic order being fully developed in LSCO+O as in the other striped lanthanum-cuprate systems.
We present high energy X-ray diffraction studies on the structural phases of an optimal high-$T_c$ superconductor La$_{2-x}$Sr$_x$CuO$_{4+y}$ tailored by co-hole-doping. This is specifically done by varying the content of two very different chemical species, Sr and O, respectively, in order to study the influence of each. A superstructure known as staging is observed in all samples, with the staging number $n$ increasing for higher Sr dopings $x$. We find that the staging phases emerge abruptly with temperature, and can be described as a second order phase transition with transition temperatures slightly depending on the Sr doping. The Sr appears to correlate the interstitial oxygen in a way that stabilises the reproducibility of the staging phase both in terms of staging period and volume fraction in a specific sample. The structural details as investigated in this letter appear to have no direct bearing on the electronic phase separation previously observed in the same samples. This provides new evidence that the electronic phase separation is determined by the overall hole concentration rather than specific Sr/O content and concommittant structural details.
The specific heat $C$ of the cuprate superconductors La$_{2-x}$Sr$_x$CuO$_4$ and Bi$_{2+y}$Sr$_{2-x-y}$La$_x$CuO$_{6+delta}$ was measured at low temperature (down to $0.5~{rm K}$), for dopings $p$ close to $p^star$, the critical doping for the onset of the pseudogap phase. A magnetic field up to $35~{rm T}$ was applied to suppress superconductivity, giving direct access to the normal state at low temperature, and enabling a determination of $C_e$, the electronic contribution to the normal-state specific heat, at $T to 0$. In La$_{2-x}$Sr$_x$CuO$_4$ at $x=p = 0.22$, $0.24$ and $0.25$, $C_e / T = 15-16~{rm mJmol}^{-1}{rm K}^{-2}$ at $T = 2~{rm K}$, values that are twice as large as those measured at higher doping ($p > 0.3$) and lower doping ($p < 0.15$). This confirms the presence of a broad peak in the doping dependence of $C_e$ at $p^starsimeq 0.19$, as previously reported for samples in which superconductivity was destroyed by Zn impurities. Moreover, at those three dopings, we find a logarithmic growth as $T to 0$, such that $C_e / T sim {rm B}ln(T_0/T)$. The peak vs $p$ and the logarithmic dependence vs $T$ are the two typical thermodynamic signatures of quantum criticality. In the very different cuprate Bi$_{2+y}$Sr$_{2-x-y}$La$_x$CuO$_{6+delta}$, we again find that $C_e / T sim {rm B}ln(T_0/T$) at $p simeq p^star$, strong evidence that this $ln(1/T)$ dependence - first discovered in the cuprates La$_{1.8-x}$Eu$_{0.2}$Sr$_x$CuO$_4$ and La$_{1.6-x}$Nd$_{0.4}$Sr$_x$CuO$_4$ - is a universal property of the pseudogap critical point. All four materials display similar values of the $rm B$ coefficient, indicating that they all belong to the same universality class.
We investigate the hole and lattice dynamics in a prototypical high temperature superconducting system La{2-x}Sr{x}CuO{4} using infrared spectroscopy. By exploring the anisotropy in the electronic response of CuO2 planes we show that our results support the notion of stripes. Nevertheless, charge ordering effects are not apparent in the phonon spectra. All crystals show only the expected infrared active modes for orthorhombic phases without evidence for additional peaks that may be indicative of static charge ordering. Strong electron-phonon interaction manifests itself through the Fano lineshape of several phonon modes. This analysis reveals anisotropic electron-phonon coupling across the phase diagram, including superconducting crystals. Due to the ubiquity of the CuO2 plane, these results may have implications for other high Tc superconductors.
Low energy spin excitations were investigated in the static stripe phase of La_{2-x}Sr_xCuO_4 using elastic and inelastic neutron scattering on single crystals. For x = 1/8 in which long-range static stripe order exists, an energy gap of E_g = 4 meV exists in the excitation spectrum in addition to strong quasi-elastic, incommensurate spin fluctuations associated with the static stripes. When x increases, the spectral weight of the spin fluctuations shifts from the quasi-elastic continuum to the excitation spectrum above E_g. The dynamic correlation length as a function of energy and the temperature evolution of the energy spectrum suggest a phase separation of two distinct magnetic phases in real space.
We demonstrate that one can measure the charge-stripe order parameter in the hole-doped CuO(2) planes of La(1.875)Ba(0.125)CuO(4), La(1.48)Nd(0.4)Sr(0.12)CuO(4) and La(1.68)Eu(0.2)Sr(0.12)CuO(4) utilizing the wipeout effects of Cu-63 NQR. Application of the same approach to La(2-x)Sr(x)CuO(4) reveals the presence of similar stripe order for the entire underdoped superconducting regime 1/16 < x < 1/8.