Anisotropy of the incommensurate fluctuations in Sr2RuO4: a study with polarized neutrons

The anisotropy of the magnetic incommensurate fluctuations in Sr2RuO4 has been studied by inelastic neutron scattering with polarized neutrons. We find a sizeable enhancement of the out of plane component by a factor of two for intermediate energy transfer which appears to decrease for higher energies. Our results qualitatively confirm calculations of the spin-orbit coupling, but the experimental anisotropy and its energy dependence are weaker than predicted.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figure

Toward a Unified Magnetic Phase Diagram of the Cuprate Superconductors

We propose a unified magnetic phase diagram of cuprate superconductors. A new feature of this phase diagram is a broad intermediate doping region of quantum-critical, $z=1$, behavior, characterized by temperature independent $T_1T/T_{\rm 2G}$ and linear $T_1T$, where the spin waves are not completely absorbed by the electron-hole continuum. The spin gap in the moderately doped materials is related to the suppression of the low-energy spectral weight in the quantum disordered, $z=1$, regime. The crossover to the $z=2$ regime, where T_1T/T_{\rm 2G}^2 \simeq \mbox{const}, occurs only in the fully doped materials.Comment: 14 pages, REVTeX v2.1, PostScript file for 3 figures attached, UIUC-P-93-06-04

Spin Pseudo Gap in La2-xSrxCuO4 Studied by Neutron Scattering

Spin excitations of La2-xSrxCuO have been studied using inelastic neutron scattering techniques in the energy range of 2 meV =< w =< 12 meV and the temperature range of 8 K =< T =< 150 K. We observed a signature of a spin pseudo gap in the excitation spectrum above Tc for the slightly overdoped sample with x = 0.18. On heating, the spin pseudo gap gradually collapses between T = 80 K and 150 K. For the x = 0.15 and 0.20, although the visibility of gap-like structure at T ~ Tc is lower compared to the x = 0.18 sample, the broad bump of kai"(w) appears at w ~ 5 meV,close to the spin-gap energy at base temperature, suggests the existence of the spin pseudo gap in the normal state.Comment: revtex, 7 pages, 8 eps figures, PRB (2003) in pres

Renormalization of Commensurate Magnetic Peak in Ni-doped La1.85_{1.85}Sr0.15_{0.15}CuO4_{4}

We have studied the magnetic excitations in impurity doped La$_{1.85}$Sr$_{0.15}$Cu$_{1-y}$A$_{y}$O$_{4}$ (A=Ni or Zn) by neutron scattering. The dispersion for Zn:$y=0.017$ is similar to that for the impurity free sample: incommensurate peaks with the incommensurability $\delta=0.12\pm0.01$ (rlu) do not change their positions up to 21 meV. On the other hand, for Ni:$y=0.029$, two incommensurate peaks observed at low energies suddenly change into a broad commensurate peak at $E_\mathrm{cross}=15$ meV. Compared to the impurity free sample with a similar Sr-concentration $x=0.16$, [B. Vignolle {\it et al.} Nature Physics {\bf 3} (2007) 163], $E_\mathrm{cross}$ for Ni:$y=0.029$ is decreased by nearly the same factor for the reduction in $T_{c}$. This is very similar to the shift of the resonance energy ($E_\mathrm{res}$) in Ni-doped YBa$_{2}$Cu$_{3}$O$_{7}$.[Y. Sidis {\it et al.}: Phys. Rev. Lett. {\bf 84} (2000) 5900]. These common impurity effects on the shift of $E_\mathrm{cross}$ and $E_\mathrm{res}$ suggest the same magnetic origin for the resonance peak in YBa$_{2}$Cu$_{3}$O$_{\delta}$ and that for a crossing point of upward and downward dispersions in the La$_{2-x}$Sr$_{x}$CuO$_{4}$. We propose that the sudden change in the dispersion is better described by a crossover from incommensurate spin fluctuations to a gapped spin wave rather than a hourglass-like dispersion.Comment: 11 pages, 5 figure

Magnetic Coherence in Cuprate Superconductors

Recent inelastic neutron scattering (INS) experiments on La$_{2-x}$Sr$_x$CuO$_4$ observed a {\it magnetic coherence effect}, i.e., strong frequency and momentum dependent changes of the spin susceptibility, $\chi''$, in the superconducting phase. We show that this effect is a direct consequence of changes in the damping of incommensurate antiferromagnetic spin fluctuations due to the appearance of a d-wave gap in the fermionic spectrum. Our theoretical results provide a quantitative explanation for the weak momentum dependence of the observed spin-gap. Moreover, we predict {\bf (a)} a Fermi surface in La$_{2-x}$Sr$_x$CuO$_4$ which is closed around $(\pi,\pi)$ up to optimal doping, and {\bf (b)} similar changes in $\chi''$ for all cuprates with an incommensurate magnetic response.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figures, Fig.3 is in colo

Ion energy distribution measurements in rf and pulsed dc plasma discharges

A commercial retarding field analyzer is used to measure the time-averaged ion energy distributions of impacting ions at the powered electrode in a 13.56 MHz driven, capacitively coupled, parallel plate discharge operated at low pressure. The study is carried out in argon discharges at 10 mTorr where the sheaths are assumed to be collisionless. The analyzer is mounted flush with the powered electrode surface where the impacting ion and electron energy distributions are measured for a range of discharge powers. A circuit model of the discharge, in combination with analytical solutions for the ion energy distribution in radio-frequency sheaths, is used to calculate other important plasma parameters from the measured energy distributions. Radio-frequency compensated Langmuir probe measurements provide a comparison with the retarding field analyzer data. The time-resolved capability of the retarding field analyzer is also demonstrated in a separate pulsed dc magnetron reactor. The analyzer is mounted on the floating substrate holder and ion energy distributions of the impinging ions on a growing film, with 100 ns time resolution, are measured through a pulse period of applied magnetron power, which are crucial for the control of the microstructure and properties of the deposited films

On the Magnetic Excitation Spectra of High Tc Cu Oxides up to the Energies far above the Resonance Energy

Magnetic excitation spectra c"(q,w) of YBa2Cu3Oy and La214 systems have been studied. For La1.88Sr0.12CuO4, c"(q,w) have been measured up to ~30 meV and existing data have been analyzed up to the energy w~150 meV by using the phenomenological expression of the generalized magnetic susceptibility c(q,w)=c0(q,w)/{1+J(q)c0(q,w)}, where c0(q,w) is the susceptibility of the electrons without the exchange coupling J(q) among them. In the relatively low energy region up to slightly above the resonance energy Er, it has been reported by the authors' group that the expression can explain characteristics of the q- and w-dependence of the spectra of YBa2Cu3Oy (YBCO or YBCOy). Here, it is also pointed out that the expression can reproduce the rotation of four incommensurate peaks of c"(q,w) within the a*-b* plane about (p/a, p/a) {or so-called (p, p)} point by 45 degree, which occurs as w goes to the energy region far above Er from E below Er. For La2-xSrxCuO4 and La2-xBaxCuO4, agreements between the observed results and the calculations are less satisfactory than for YBCO, indicating that we have to take account of the existence of the "stripes" to consistently explain the observed c"(q,w) of La214 system especially near x=1/8.Comment: 14 pages, 5 figure

Efficient metallic spintronic emitters of ultrabroadband terahertz radiation

Terahertz electromagnetic radiation is extremely useful for numerous applications such as imaging and spectroscopy. Therefore, it is highly desirable to have an efficient table-top emitter covering the 1-to-30-THz window whilst being driven by a low-cost, low-power femtosecond laser oscillator. So far, all solid-state emitters solely exploit physics related to the electron charge and deliver emission spectra with substantial gaps. Here, we take advantage of the electron spin to realize a conceptually new terahertz source which relies on tailored fundamental spintronic and photonic phenomena in magnetic metal multilayers: ultrafast photo-induced spin currents, the inverse spin-Hall effect and a broadband Fabry-P\'erot resonance. Guided by an analytical model, such spintronic route offers unique possibilities for systematic optimization. We find that a 5.8-nm-thick W/CoFeB/Pt trilayer generates ultrashort pulses fully covering the 1-to-30-THz range. Our novel source outperforms laser-oscillator-driven emitters such as ZnTe(110) crystals in terms of bandwidth, terahertz-field amplitude, flexibility, scalability and cost.Comment: 18 pages, 10 figure

Anomalous broadening of the spin-flop transition in the reentrant spin-glass phase of La2−x_{2-x}Srx_xCuO4_4 (x=0.018x=0.018)

The magnetization in a lightly doped La$_{2-x}$Sr$_x$CuO$_4$ ($x=0.018$) single crystal was measured. Spin-flop transition was clearly observed in the hole doped antiferromagnetically ordered state under increasing magnetic fields perpendicular to the CuO$_2$ plane. In the spin-glass phase below 25K, the spin-flop transition becomes broad but the step in the magnetization curve associated with the transition remains finite at the lowest temperature. We show in this report that, at low temperature, the homogeneous antiferromagnetic order is disturbed by the re-distribution of holes, and that the spatial variance of the local hole concentration around $x=0.018$ increases.Comment: to be published to Physical Review

Two-dimensional incommensurate magnetic fluctuations in Sr2_2(Ru0.99_{0.99}Ti0.01_{0.01})O4_4

We investigate the imaginary part of the wave vector dependent dynamic spin susceptibility in Sr$_2$(Ru$_{0.99}$Ti$_{0.01}$)O$_4$ as a function of temperature using neutron scattering. At T=5 K, two-dimensional incommensurate (IC) magnetic fluctuations are clearly observed around $\mathbf{Q}_\text{c}=(0.3,0.3,L)$ up to approximately 60 meV energy transfer. We find that the IC excitations disperse to ridges around the $(\pi,\pi)$ point. Below 50 K, the energy and temperature dependent excitations are well described by the phenomenological response function for a Fermi liquid system with a characteristic energy of 4.0(1) meV. Although the wave vector dependence of the IC magnetic fluctuations in Sr$_2$(Ru$_{0.99}$Ti$_{0.01}$)O$_4$ is similar to that in the Fermi liquid state of the parent compound, Sr$_2$RuO$_4$, the magnetic fluctuations are clearly suppressed by the Ti-doping.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figure