No Arabic abstract
The present work addresses YBa$_{2}$Cu$_{3}$O$_{y}$ at doping below x=6% where the compound is a collinear antiferromagnet. In this region YBa$_{2}$Cu$_{3}$O$_{y}$ is a normal conductor with a finite resistivity at zero temperature. The value of the staggered magnetization at zero temperature is 0.6mu_B, the maximum value allowed by spin quantum fluctuations. The staggered magnetization is almost independent of doping. On the other hand, the Neel temperature decays very quickly from T_N=420K at x=0 to practically zero at x = 0.06. The present paper explains these remarkable properties and demonstrates that the properties result from the physics of a lightly doped Mott insulator with small hole pockets. Nuclear quadrupole resonance data are also discussed. The data shed light on mechanisms of stability of the antiferromagnetic order at x < 6%.
We have used 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 Neel temperature, $T_N = 420$~K, Larmor diffraction reveals the formation of magneto-structural domains of characteristic size $sim 240$~nm. In the antiferromagnetic state, dilatometry reveals a minute ($4 times 10^{-6}$) 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.
We report results of a muon spin relaxation study of slow magnetic fluctuations in the pseudogap phase of underdoped single-crystalline YBa$_{2}$Cu$_{3}$O$_{y}$, $y = 6.77$ and 6.83. The dependence of the dynamic muon spin relaxation rate on applied magnetic field yields the rms magnitude~$Bmathrm{_{loc}^{rms}}$ and correlation time~$tau_c$ of fluctuating local fields at muon sites. The observed relaxation rates do not decrease with decreasing temperature~$T$ below the pseudogap onset at $T^ast$, as would be expected for a conventional magnetic transition; both $Bmathrm{_{loc}^{rms}}$ and $tau_c$ are roughly constant in the pseudogap phase down to the superconducting transition. Corresponding NMR relaxation rates are estimated to be too small to be observable. Our results put strong constraints on theories of the anomalous pseudogap magnetism in YBa$_{2}$Cu$_{3}$O$_{y}$.
We have prepared oxygen isotope exchanged crystals of impurity-free YBCO with various oxygen concentents, and examined pure doping ($p$) dependance of isotope effect on superconducting transition temperature. With decreasing oxygen contents, the isotope exponent $alpha$ monotonously increases without any anomaly around $p = 1/8$. The monotonous increase in $alpha$ indicates that phonons are involved in the mechanism which causes the monotonous $T_c$ suppression with underdoping.
We report the infrared (IR) response of Cu-O chains in the high-$T_{c}$ superconductor YBa$_{2}$Cu$_{3}$O$_{y}$ over the doping range spanning $% y=6.28-6.75$. We find evidence for a power law scaling at mid-IR frequencies consistent with predictions for Tomonaga-Luttinger liquid, thus supporting the notion of one-dimensional transport in the chains. We analyze the role of coupling to the CuO$_{2}$ planes in establishing metallicity and superconductivity in disordered chain fragments.
We report $^{63,65}$Cu NQR measurements on slightly underdoped NdBa$_{2}$Cu$_{3}$O$_{6+y}$ single crystals heavily doped by Ni and Zn impurities. Owing to the impurity doping superconductivity is fully suppressed in both cases. The Ni strongly enhances magnetic correlations and induces a wipeout of the NQR signal comparable to that found in stripe ordered lanthanum cuprates. In contrast, the magnetism is suppressed in the Zn doped sample where no wipeout effect is observed and the nuclear spin relaxation rate is reduced. Our findings are in a striking correspondence with the different impact of Ni and Zn impurities on the charge pseudogap evidenced by recent optical data, uncovering thereby a close relationship between the magnetic correlations and pseudogap phenomena.