Spin dynamics and ordering of a cuprate stripe-antiferromagnet

In La1.48Nd0.4Sr0.12CuO4 the 139La and 63Cu NQR relaxation rates and signal wipe-out upon lowering temperature are shown to be due to purely magnetic fluctuations. They follow the same renormalized classical behavior as seen in neutron data, when the electronic spins order in stripes, with a small spread in spin stiffness (15% spread in activation energy). The La signal, which reappears at low temperatures, is magnetically broadened and experiences additional wipe-out due to slowing down of the Nd fluctuations.Comment: 4 pages including 3 figures - ref. 16 adde

Pseudogap behavior of nuclear spin relaxation in high Tc superconductors in terms of phase separation

We analyze anew experiments on the NMR in cuprates and find an important information on their phase separation and its stripe character hidden in the dependence of $1/^{63}T_{1}$ on degree of doping. In a broad class of materials $1/^{63}T_{1}$ is the sum of two terms: the temperature independent one attributed to ``incommensurate'' stripes that occur at external doping, and an ``universal'' temperature dependent term ascribed to moving metallic and AF sub-phases. We argue that the frustrated first order phase transition in a broad temperature interval bears a dynamical character.Comment: 5 pages, 3 figures; some comments and references added; accepted for publication in JETP Letter

Lattice anisotropy as microscopic origin of static stripes in cuprates

Structural distortions in cuprate materials offer a microscopic origin for anisotropies in electron transport in the basal plane. Using a real-space Hartree-Fock approach, we consider the ground states of the anisotropic Hubbard (t_x \ne t_y) and t-J (t_x \ne t_y, J_x \ne J_y) models. Symmetrical but inhomogeneous (``polaronic'') charge structures in the isotropic models are altered even by rather small anisotropies to one-dimensional, stripe-like features. We find two distinct types of stripe, namely uniformly filled, antiphase domain walls and non-uniform, half-filled, in-phase ones. We characterize their properties, energies and dependence on the model parameters, including filling and anisotropy in t (and J). We discuss the connections among these results, other theoretical studies and experimental observation.Comment: 18 pages, 16 figures, 8 table

Competing orders and quantum criticality in doped antiferromagnets

We use a number of large-N limits to explore the competition between ground states of square lattice doped antiferromagnets which break electromagnetic U(1), time-reversal, or square lattice space group symmetries. Among the states we find are d-, (s+id)-, and (d+id)-wave superconductors, Wigner crystals, Wigner crystals of hole pairs, orbital antiferromagnets (or staggered-flux states), and states with spin-Peierls and bond-centered charge stripe order. In the vicinity of second-order quantum phase transitions between the states, we go beyond the large-N limit by identifying the universal quantum field theories for the critical points, and computing the finite temperature, quantum-critical damping of fermion spectral functions. We identify candidate critical points for the recently observed quantum-critical behavior in photoemission experiments on BSCCO by Valla et al. (Science 285, 2110 (1999)). These involve onset of a charge density wave, or of broken time-reversal symmetry with (d+id) or (s+id) pairing, in a d-wave superconductor. It is not required (although it is allowed) that the stable state in the doped cuprates to be anything other than the d-wave superconductor--the other states need only be stable nearby in parameter space. At finite temperatures, fluctuations associated with these nearby states lead to the observed fermion damping in the vicinity of the nodal points in the Brillouin zone. The cases with broken time-reversal symmetry are appealing because the order parameter is not required to satisfy any special commensurability conditions. The observed absence of inelastic damping of quasiparticles with momenta (pi,k), (k,pi) (with 0 < k < pi) also appears very naturally for the case of a transition to (d+id) order.Comment: 26 pages, 13 figures; added references, clarifications, and a new figur

Phase Separation Models for Cuprate Stripe Arrays

An electronic phase separation model provides a natural explanation for a large variety of experimental results in the cuprates, including evidence for both stripes and larger domains, and a termination of the phase separation in the slightly overdoped regime, when the average hole density equals that on the charged stripes. Several models are presented for charged stripes, showing how density waves, superconductivity, and strong correlations compete with quantum size effects (QSEs) in narrow stripes. The energy bands associated with the charged stripes develop in the middle of the Mott gap, and the splitting of these bands can be understood by considering the QSE on a single ladder.Comment: significant revisions: includes island phase, 16 eps figures, revte

How to detect fluctuating order in the high-temperature superconductors

We discuss fluctuating order in a quantum disordered phase proximate to a quantum critical point, with particular emphasis on fluctuating stripe order. Optimal strategies for extracting information concerning such local order from experiments are derived with emphasis on neutron scattering and scanning tunneling microscopy. These ideas are tested by application to two model systems - the exactly solvable one dimensional electron gas with an impurity, and a weakly-interacting 2D electron gas. We extensively review experiments on the cuprate high-temperature superconductors which can be analyzed using these strategies. We adduce evidence that stripe correlations are widespread in the cuprates. Finally, we compare and contrast the advantages of two limiting perspectives on the high-temperature superconductor: weak coupling, in which correlation effects are treated as a perturbation on an underlying metallic (although renormalized) Fermi liquid state, and strong coupling, in which the magnetism is associated with well defined localized spins, and stripes are viewed as a form of micro-phase separation. We present quantitative indicators that the latter view better accounts for the observed stripe phenomena in the cuprates.Comment: 43 pages, 11 figures, submitted to RMP; extensively revised and greatly improved text; one new figure, one new section, two new appendices and more reference