Effect of a magnetic field on the long-range magnetic order in insulating Nd2CuO4, nonsuperconducting and superconducting Nd1.85Ce0.15CuO4

We have measured the effect of a c-axis aligned magnetic field on the long-range magnetic order of insulating Nd2CuO4, as-grown nonsuperconducting and superconducting Nd1.85Ce0.15CuO4. On cooling from room temperature, Nd2CuO4 goes through a series of antiferromagnetic (AF) phase transitions with different noncollinear spin structures. In all phases of Nd2CuO4, we find that the applied c-axis field induces a canting of the AF order but does not alter the basic zero-field noncollinear spin structures. Similar behavior is also found in as-grown nonsuperconducting Nd1.85Ce0.15CuO4. These results contrast dramatically with those of superconducting Nd1.85Ce0.15CuO4, where a c-axis aligned magnetic field induces a static, anomalously conducting, long-range ordered AF state. We confirm that the annealing process necessary to make superconducting Nd1.85Ce0.15CuO4 also induces epitaxial, three-dimensional long-range ordered cubic (Nd,Ce)2O3 as an impurity phase. In addition, the annealing process makes a series of quasi two-dimensional superlattice reflections associated with lattice distortions of Nd1.85Ce0.15CuO4 in the CuO2 plane. While the application of a magnetic field will induce a net moment in the impurity phase, we determine its magnitude and eliminate this as a possibility for the observed magnetic field-induced effect in superconducting Nd1.85Ce0.15CuO4.Comment: 12 pages, 10 figures, to be published in Phys. Rev.

Magnetic impurity coupled to interacting conduction electrons

We consider a magnetic impurity which interacts by hybridization with a system of weakly correlated electrons and determine the energy of the ground state by means of an 1/N_f expansion. The correlations among the conduction electrons are described by a Hubbard Hamiltonian and are treated to lowest order in the interaction strength. We find that their effect on the Kondo temperature, T_K, in the Kondo limit is twofold: First, the position of the impurity level is shifted due to the reduction of charge fluctuations, which reduces T_K. Secondly, the bare Kondo exchange coupling is enhanced as spin fluctuations are enlarged. In total, T_K increases. Both corrections require intermediate states beyond the standard Varma-Yafet ansatz. This shows that the Hubbard interaction does not just provide quasiparticles, which hybridize with the impurity, but also renormalizes the Kondo coupling.Comment: ReVTeX 19 pages, 3 uuenconded postscript figure

Interaction of a Magnetic Impurity with Strongly Correlated Conduction Electrons

We consider a magnetic impurity which interacts by hybridization with a system of strongly correlated conduction electrons. The latter are described by a Hubbard Hamiltonian. By means of a canconical transformation the charge degrees of freedom of the magnetic impurity are eliminated. The resulting effective Hamiltonian $H_{\rm eff}$ is investigated and various limiting cases are considered. If the Hubbard interaction $U$ between the conduction electrons is neglected $H_{\rm eff}$ reduces to a form obtained by the Schrieffer-Wolff transformation, which is essentially the Kondo Hamiltonian. If $U$ is large and the correlations are strong $H_{\rm eff}$ is changed. One modification concerns the coefficient of the dominant exchange coupling of the magnetic impurity with the nearest lattice site. When the system is hole doped, there is also an antiferromagnetic coupling to the nearest neighbors of that site involving additionally a hole. Furthermore, it is found that the magnetic impurity attracts a hole. In the case of electron doping, double occupancies are repelled by the impurity. In contrast to the hole-doped case, we find no magnetic coupling which additionally involves a doubly occupied site.Comment: 16 pages, Revtex 3.

Absence of magnetic field effect on static magnetic order in electron-doped superconductor Nd_{1.86}Ce_{0.14}CuO_4

Neutron-scattering experiments were performed to study the magnetic field effect on the electron-doped cuprate superconductor Nd_{1.86}Ce_{0.14}CuO_4, which shows the coexistence of magnetic order and superconductivity. The (1/2 3/2 0) magnetic Bragg intensity, which mainly originates from the order of both the Cu and Nd moments at low temperatures, shows no magnetic field dependence when the field is applied perpendicular to the CuO_{2} plane up to 10 T above the upper critical field. This result is significantly different from that reported for the hole-doped cuprate superconductors, in which the quasi-static magnetic order is noticeably enhanced under a magnetic field.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figure

A layering model for superconductivity in the borocarbides

We propose a superlattice model to describe superconductivity in layered materials, such as the borocarbide families with the chemical formul\ae\ $RT_2$B$_2$C and $RT$BC, with $R$ being (essentially) a rare earth, and $T$ a transition metal. We assume a single band in which electrons feel a local attractive interaction (negative Hubbard-$U$) on sites representing the $T$B layers, while U=0 on sites representing the $R$C layers; the multi-band structure is taken into account minimally through a band offset $\epsilon$. The one-dimensional model is studied numerically through the calculation of the charge gap, the Drude weight, and of the pairing correlation function. A comparison with the available information on the nature of the electronic ground state (metallic or superconducting) indicates that the model provides a systematic parametrization of the whole borocarbide family.Comment: 4 figure

Field-Induced Uniform Antiferromagnetic Order Associated with Superconductivity in Pr1−x_{1-x}LaCex_{x}CuO4−δ_{4-\delta}

Strong correlation between field-induced antiferromagnetic (AF) order and superconductivity is demonstrated for an electron-doped cuprate superconductor, Pr$_{1-x}$LaCe$_{x}$CuO$_{4-\delta}$ (PLCCO). In addition to the specimen with $x=0.11$ (which is close to the AF phase boundary, $x\simeq0.10$), we show that the one with $x=0.15$ ($T_c\simeq16$ K at zero field) also exhibits the field-induced AF order with a reduced magnitude of the induced moment. The uniform muon Knight shift at a low magnetic field ($\sim10^2$ Oe) indicates that the AF order is not localized within the cores of flux lines, which is in a marked contrast with theoretical prediction for hole-doped cuprates. The presence of anomalous non-diagonal hyperfine coupling between muons and Pr ions is also demonstrated in detail.Comment: 8 pages, 5 figures, to be published in J. Phys. Soc. Jp

Polaronic optical absorption in electron-doped and hole-doped cuprates

Polaronic features similar to those previously observed in the photoinduced spectra of cuprates have been detected in the reflectivity spectra of chemically doped parent compounds of high-critical-temperature superconductors, both $n$-type and $p$-type. In Nd$_2$CuO$_{4-y}$ these features, whose intensities depend both on doping and temperature, include local vibrational modes in the far infrared and a broad band centered at $\sim$ 1000 cm$^{-1}$. The latter band is produced by the overtones of two (or three) local modes and is well described in terms of a small-polaron model, with a binding energy of about 500 cm$^{-1}$. Most of the above infrared features are shown to survive in the metallic phase of Nd$_{2-x}$Ce$_x$Cu0$_{4-y}$, Bi$_2$Sr$_2$CuO$_6$, and YBa$_2$Cu$_3$O$_{7-y}$, where they appear as extra-Drude peaks. The occurrence of polarons is attributed to local modes strongly coupled to carriers, as shown by a comparison with tunneling results.Comment: File latex, 31 p., submitted to Physical Review B. Figures may be faxed upon reques

Anisotropic Spin Hamiltonians due to Spin-Orbit and Coulomb Exchange Interactions

This paper contains the details of Phys. Rev. Lett. 73, 2919 (1994) and, to a lesser extent, Phys. Rev. Lett. 72, 3710 (1994). We treat a Hubbard model which includes all the 3d states of the Cu ions and the 2p states of the O ions. We also include spin-orbit interactions, hopping between ground and excited crystal field states of the Cu ions, and rather general Coulomb interactions. Our analytic results for the spin Hamiltonian, H, are corroborated by numerical evaluations of the energy splitting of the ground manifold for two holes on either a pair of Cu ions or a Cu-O-Cu complex. In the tetragonal symmetry case and for the model considered, we prove that H is rotationally invariant in the absence of Coulomb exchange. When Coulomb exchange is present, each bond Hamiltonian has full biaxial anisotropy, as expected for this symmetry. For lower symmetry situations, the single bond spin Hamiltonian is anisotropic at order t**6 for constant U and at order t**2 for nonconstant U. (Constant U means that the Coulomb interaction between orbitals does not depend on which orbitals are involved.)Comment: 50 pages, ILATEX Version 2.09 <13 Jun 1989

Planar 17O NMR study of Pr_yY_{1-y}Ba_2Cu_3O_{6+x}

We report the planar ^{17}O NMR shift in Pr substituted YBa_{2}Cu_{3}O_{6+x}, which at x=1 exhibits a characteristic pseudogap temperature dependence, confirming that Pr reduces the concentration of mobile holes in the CuO_{2} planes. Our estimate of the rate of this counterdoping effect, obtained by comparison with the shift in pure samples with reduced oxygen content, is found insufficient to explain the observed reduction of T_c. From the temperature dependent magnetic broadening of the ^{17}O NMR we conclude that the Pr moment and the local magnetic defect induced in the CuO_2 planes produce a long range spin polarization in the planes, which is likely associated with the extra reduction of T_c. We find a qualitatively different behaviour in the oxygen depleted Pr_yY_{1-y}Ba_2Cu_3O_{6.6}, i.e. the suppression of T$_c$ is nearly the same, but the magnetic broadening of the ^{17}O NMR appears weaker. This difference may signal a weaker coupling of the Pr to the planes in the underdoped compound, which might be linked with the larger Pr to CuO_2 plane distance, and correspondingly weaker hybridization.Comment: 8 pages, 9 figures, accepted in Phys Rev

Periodic Anderson model with correlated conduction electrons

We investigate a periodic Anderson model with interacting conduction electrons which are described by a Hubbard-type interaction of strength U_c. Within dynamical mean-field theory the total Hamiltonian is mapped onto an impurity model, which is solved by an extended non-crossing approximation. We consider the particle-hole symmetric case at half-filling. Similar to the case U_c=0, the low-energy behavior of the conduction electrons at high temperatures is essentially unaffected by the f-electrons and for small U_c a quasiparticle peak corresponding to the Hubbard model evolves first. These quasiparticles screen the f-moments when the temperature is reduced further, and the system turns into an insulator with a tiny gap and flat bands. The formation of the quasiparticle peak is impeded by increasing either U_c or the c-f hybridization. Nevertheless almost dispersionless bands emerge at low temperature with an increased gap, even in the case of initially insulating host electrons. The size of the gap in the one-particle spectral density at low temperatures provides an estimate for the low-energy scale and increases as U_c increases.Comment: 11 pages RevTeX with 13 ps figures, accepted by PR