Upper Pseudogap Phase: Magnetic Characterizations

It is proposed that the upper pseudogap phase (UPP) observed in the high-Tc cuprates correspond to the formation of spin singlet pairing under the bosonic resonating-valence-bond (RVB) description. We present a series of evidence in support of such a scenario based on the calculated magnetic properties including uniform spin susceptibility, spin-lattice and spin-echo relaxation rates, which consistently show that strong spin correlations start to develop upon entering the UPP, being enhanced around the momentum (\pi, \pi) while suppressed around (0, 0). The phase diagram in the parameter space of doping concentration, temperature, and external magnetic field, is obtained based on the the bosonic RVB theory. In particular, the competition between the Zeeman splitting and singlet pairing determines a simple relation between the "critical" magnetic field, H_{PG}, and characteristic temperature scale, T0, of the UPP. We also discuss the magnetic behavior in the lower pseudogap phase at a temperature Tv lower than T0, which is characterized by the formation of Cooper pair amplitude where the low-lying spin fluctuations get suppressed at both (0, 0) and (\pi, \pi). Properties of the UPP involving charge channels will be also briefly discussed.Comment: 11 pages, 5 figures, final version to appear in PR

Fermi-liquid ground state in n-type copper-oxide superconductor Pr0.91Ce0.09LaCuO4-y

We report nuclear magnetic resonance studies on the low-doped n-type copper-oxide Pr_{0.91}LaCe_{0.09}CuO_{4-y} (T_c=24 K) in the superconducting state and in the normal state uncovered by the application of a strong magnetic field. We find that when the superconductivity is removed, the underlying ground state is the Fermi liquid state. This result is at variance with that inferred from previous thermal conductivity measurement and contrast with that in p-type copper-oxides with a similar doping level where high-T_c superconductivity sets in within the pseudogap phase. The data in the superconducting state are consistent with the line-nodes gap model.Comment: version to appear in Phys. Rev. Let