No Arabic abstract
We report $^{139}$La and $^{63}$Cu NMR investigation of the successive charge order, spin order, and superconducting transitions in super-oxygenated La$_2$CuO$_{4+y}$ single crystal with stage-4 excess oxygen order at $T_{stage}simeq 290$ K. We show that the stage-4 order induces tilting of CuO$_6$ octahedra below $T_{stage}$, which in turn causes $^{139}$La NMR line broadening. The structural distortion continues to develop far below $T_{stage}$, and completes at $T_{charge}simeq 60$ K, where charge order sets in. This sequence is reminiscent of the the charge order transition in Nd co-doped La$_{1.88}$Sr$_{0.12}$CuO$_4$ that sets in once the low temperature tetragonal (LTT) phase is established. We also show that the paramagnetic $^{63}$Cu NMR signals are progressively wiped out below $T_{charge}$ due to enhanced low frequency spin fluctuations, but the residual $^{63}$Cu NMR signals continue to exhibit the characteristics expected for optimally doped superconducting CuO$_2$ planes. This indicates that charge order in La$_2$CuO$_{4+y}$ does not take place uniformly in space. Low frequency Cu spin fluctuations as probed by $^{139}$La nuclear spin-lattice relaxation rate are mildly glassy, and do not exhibit critical divergence at $T_{spin}$($simeq T_{c}$)=42 K. These findings, including the spatially inhomogeneous nature of the charge ordered state, are qualitatively similar to the case of La$_{1.885}$Sr$_{0.115}$CuO$_4$ [T. Imai et al., Phys. Rev. B 96 (2017) 224508, and A. Arsenault et al., Phys. Rev. B 97 (2018) 064511], but both charge and spin order take place more sharply in the present case.
The presence of charge and spin stripe order in the La2CuO4-based family of superconductors continues to lead to new insight on the unusual ground state properties of high Tc cuprates. Soon after the discovery of charge stripe order at T(charge)=65K in Nd3+ co-doped LSCO ($T_{c}simeq6$~K) [Tranquada et al., Nature {bf 375} (1995) 561], Hunt et al. demonstrated that La$_{1.48}$Nd$_{0.4}$Sr$_{0.12}$CuO$_4$ and superconducting LSCO with x~1/8 (Tc ~ 30K) share nearly identical NMR anomalies near $T_{charge}$ of the former [Phys. Rev. Lett. {bf 82} (1999) 4300]. Their inevitable conclusion that LSCO also undergoes charge order at a comparable temperature became controversial, because diffraction measurements at the time were unable to detect Bragg peaks associated with charge order. Recent advances in x-ray diffraction techniques finally led to definitive confirmations of the charge order Bragg peaks in LSCO with an onset at as high as T(charge)=80K. Meanwhile, improved instrumental technology has enabled routine NMR measurements that were not feasible two decades ago. Motivated by these new developments, we revisit the charge order transition of a LSCO single crystal based on 63Cu NMR techniques. We demonstrate that 63Cu NMR properties of the nuclear spin $I_{z}$ = -1/2 to +1/2 central transition below T(charge) exhibit unprecedentedly strong dependence on the measurement time scale set by the NMR pulse separation time $tau$; a new kind of anomalous, very broad wing-like 63Cu NMR signals gradually emerge below T(charge) only for extremely short $tau lesssim 4~mu$s, while the spectral weight of the normal NMR signals is progressively wiped out. The NMR linewidth and relaxation rates depend strongly on $tau$ below T(charge), and their enhancement in the charge ordered state indicates that charge order turns on strong but inhomogeneous growth of Cu spin-spin correlations.
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.
The reflectivity $R (omega)$ of both the $ab$ plane and the c axis of two single crystals of La$_{1.875}$Ba$_{0.125-y}$Sr$_{y}$CuO$_4$ has been measured down to 5 cm$^{-1}$, using coherent synchrotron radiation below 30 cm$^{-1}$. For $y$ = 0.085, a Josephson Plasma Resonance is detected at $T ll T_c$ = 31 K in $R_{c} (omega)$, and a far-infrared peak (FIP) appears in the optical conductivity below 50 K, where non-static charge ordering (CO) is reported by X-ray scattering. For $y$ = 0.05 ($T_c$ = 10 K), a FIP is observed in the low-temperature tetragonal phase below the ordering temperature $T_{CO}$. At 1/8 doping the peak frequency scales linearly with $T_{CO}$, confirming that the FIP is an infrared signature of CO, either static or fluctuating.
The correlations between stripe order, superconductivity, and crystal structure in La(2-x)Ba(x)CuO(4) single crystals have been studied by means of x-ray and neutron diffraction as well as static magnetization measurements. The derived phase diagram shows that charge stripe order (CO) coexists with bulk superconductivity in a broad range of doping around x=1/8, although the CO order parameter falls off quickly for x<>1/8. Except for x=0.155, the onset of CO always coincides with the transition between the orthorhombic and the tetragonal low temperature structures. The CO transition evolves from a sharp drop at low x to a more gradual transition at higher x, eventually falling below the structural phase boundary for optimum doping. With respect to the interlayer CO correlations, we find no qualitative change of the stripe stacking order as a function of doping, and in-plane and out-of-plane correlations disappear simultaneously at the transition. Similarly to the CO, the spin stripe order (SO) is also most pronounced at x=1/8. Truly static SO sets in below the CO and coincides with the first appearance of in-plane superconducting correlations at temperatures significantly above the bulk transition to superconductivity (SC). Indications that bulk SC causes a reduction of the spin or charge stripe order could not be identified. We argue that CO is the dominant order that is compatible with SC pairing but competes with SC phase coherence. Comparing our results with data from the literature, we find good agreement if all results are plotted as a function of x instead of the nominal x, where x represents an estimate of the actual Ba content, extracted from the doping dependence of the structural transition between the orthorhombic phase and the tetragonal high-temperature phase.
We report experimental evidence for the spatial variation of hole concentration x_(hole) in the high Tc superconductor La(2-x)Sr(x)CuO(4) (0.04 <= x <= 0.16) by using (63)Cu NQR for (63)Cu isotope enriched samples. We demonstrate that the extent of the spatial variation of the local hole concentration D(x)_(hole) is reflected on (63)1/T1 and deduce the temperature dependence. D(x)_(hole) increases below 500 - 600K, and reaches values as large as D(x)_(hole)/x ~ 0.5 below ~ 150K. We estimate the length scale of the spatial variation in x_(hole) to be R_(hole) >~ 3nm from analysis of the NQR spectrum.