Local spin polarization in underdoped cuprates with impurities

We present a theory of magnetic (Ni) and nonmagnetic (Zn) impurities substituted into planar Cu sites in the normal state of underdoped cuprates exhibiting a spin gap. Both types of impurities induce magnetic moments on neighboring Cu sites. In the case of Ni these moments partially screen the inherent impurity spin, resulting in an effective S=1/2 moment. The characteristic Kondo scale is found to have a power-law dependence on the coupling constant. We investigate the spatial shape of the impurity-induced spin density, taking into account the presence of short-ranged AF correlations, and calculate the ^{17}O NMR line broadening induced by impurity doping.Comment: To appear in: Physica C, Proceedings of ACS '9

Underdoped cuprates phenomenology in the 2D Hubbard model within COM(SCBA)

The two-dimensional Hubbard model is studied within the Composite Operator Method (COM) with the residual self-energy computed in the Self-Consistent Born Approximation (SCBA). COM describes interacting electrons in terms of the new elementary excitations appearing in the system owing to strong correlations; residual interactions among these excitations are treated within the SCBA. The anomalous features appearing in the spectral function A(k,\omega), the momentum distribution function n(k) and the Fermi surface are analyzed for various values of the filling (from overdoped to underdoped region) in the intermediate coupling regime at low temperatures. For low doping, in contrast with the ordinary Fermi-liquid behavior of a weakly-correlated metal found at high doping, we report the opening of a pseudogap and some non-Fermi-liquid features as measured for cuprates superconductors. In addition, we show the presence of kinks in the calculated electronic dispersion in agreement with ARPES data.Comment: 5 pages, 5 figure

Magnon softening and damping in the ferromagnetic manganites due to orbital correlations

We present a theory for spin excitations in ferromagnetic metallic manganites and demonstrate that orbital fluctuations have strong effects on the magnon dynamics in the case these compounds are close to a transition to an orbital ordered state. In particular we show that the scattering of the spin excitations by low-lying orbital modes with cubic symmetry causes both the magnon softening and damping observed experimentally.Comment: 2 pages, 2 figures, SCES2003 Roma, to appear in J. Mag. Magn. Ma

Impurity-induced moments in underdoped cuprates

We examine the effect of a nonmagnetic impurity in a two-dimensional spin liquid in the spin-gap phase, employing a drone-fermion representation of spin-1/2 operators. The properties of the local moment induced in the vicinity of the impurity are investigated and an expression for the nuclear-magnetic- resonance Knight shift is derived, which we compare with experimental results. Introducing a second impurity into the spin liquid an antiferromagnetic interaction between the moments is found when the two impurities are located on different sublattices. The presence of many impurities leads to a screening of this interaction as is shown by means of a coherent-potential approximation. Further, the Kondo screening of an impurity-induced local spin by charge carriers is discussed.Comment: 8 pages, 1 figure. To be published in Phys. Rev. B, Vol. 56, No. 1

High-order correlation effects in the two-dimensional Hubbard model

The electronic states of the two-dimensional Hubbard model are investigated by means of a 4-pole approximation within the Composite Operator Method. In addition to the conventional Hubbard operators, we consider other two operators which come from the hierarchy of the equations of motion and carry information regarding nearest-neighbor spin and charge configurations. By means of this operatorial basis, we can study the physics related to the energy scale of J=4t^2/U in addition to the one of U. Present results show relevant physical features, well beyond those previously obtained by means of a 2-pole approximation, such as a four-band structure with shadow bands and a quasi-particle peak at the Fermi level. The Fermi level stays pinned to the band flatness located at (pi,0)-point within a wide range of hole-doping (0 <= delta <= 0.15). A comprehensive analysis of double occupancy, internal energy, specific heat and entropy features have been also performed. All reported results are in excellent agreement with the data of numerical simulations.Comment: 13 pages, 8 figure

Interplay between crystal-field splitting and superexchange interaction in the t 2g orbital Mott insulator

With a model of the d1(t 2g)-electron antiferromagnetic Mott insulator a competition of two typical interactions for orbital states of the t 2g-triplet levels has been investigated: The on-site electronic coupling with a local crystal field (LCF) tends orbitals to order, while the intersite superexchange (SE) induces their fluctuations. Both interactions coexist in perovskites: The LCF is induced by GdFeO 3-type structural deformations. In turn, the SE originates from virtual electronic hoppings, allowed by the Pauli principle, between nonorthogonal orbital states of adjacent sites. The dependence of the state of the orbitals (namely, a dispersion of their excitations and the quadrupole polarization) on a relation between the energy Δ of the triplet level splitting, caused by the D 3d-symmetry LCF, and the exchange energy J SE is analyzed. Two qualitatively different regimes of the collective orbital behavior have been established: the induced order and fast fluctuations. It has been found that a crossover between them occurs when Δ comes close to J SE, and in the parameter region about ΔJ SE the order and fluctuations affect the wave function in a comparable extent. Previous approaches based on either of the interactions fail in this window. The present study identifies validity ranges of the former theories, embracing the physics of the orbitals by the unified description. © 2012 American Physical Society