Systematic Study of Short Range Antiferromagnetic Order and The Spin-Glass State in Lightly Doped La2-xSrxCuO4

Systematic measurements of the magnetic susceptibility were performed on single crystals of lightly doped La2-xSrxCuO4 (x=0.03, 0.04 and 0.05). For all samples the temperature dependence of the in-plane magnetic susceptibility shows typical spin-glass features with spin-glass transition temperatures Tg of 6.3K, 5.5K and 5.0K for x=0.03, 0.04 and 0.05, respectively. The canonical spin-glass order parameter extracted from the in-plane susceptibility of all the samples follows a universal scaling curve. On the other hand, the out-of-plane magnetic susceptibility deviates from Curie law below a temperature Tdv, higher than Tg. Comparing with previous neutron scattering results with an instrumental energy resolution of 0.25 meV from Wakimoto et al., the x-dependence of Tdv is qualitatively the same as that of Tel, the temperature below which the elastic magnetic scattering develops around (pi, pi). Thus, a revised magnetic phase diagram in the lightly doped region of La2-xSrxCuO4 is proposed. The Curie constants calculated from the in-plane susceptibility are independent of the Sr concentration. On the basis of the cluster spin-glass model, this fact might reflect an inhomogeneous distribution of doped holes in the CuO2 plane, such as in a stripe structure.Comment: 7 pages, 6 figure

Static magnetic correlations near the insulating-superconducting phase boundary in La2−x_{2-x}Srx_{x}CuO4_{4}

An elastic neutron scattering study has been performed on several single crystals of La$_{2-x}$Sr$_{x}$CuO$_{4}$ for {\it x} near the lower critical concentration {\it x$_{c}$} for superconductivity. % In the insulating spin-glass phase ({\it x} = 0.04 and 0.053), the previously reported one-dimensional spin modulation along the orthorhombic {\it b}-axis is confirmed. % Just inside the superconducting phase ({\it x} = 0.06), however, two pairs of incommensurate magnetic peaks are additionally observed corresponding to the spin modulation parallel to the tetragonal axes. % These two types of spin modulations with similar incommensurabilities coexist near the boundary. % The peak-width $\kappa$ along spin-modulation direction exhibits an anomalous maximum in the superconducting phase near {\it x$_{c}$}, where the incommensurability $\delta$ monotonically increases upon doping across the phase boundary. % These results are discussed in connection with the doping-induced superconducting phase transition.Comment: 9pages, 9figure

Direct relation between the low-energy spin excitations and superconductivity of overdoped high-TcT_c superconductors

The dynamic spin susceptibility, $\chi''(\omega)$, has been measured over the energy range of $2 \leq \omega \leq 10$ meV for overdoped La$_{2-x}$Sr$_{x}$CuO$_{4}$. Incommensurate (IC) spin excitations are observed at 8 K for all superconducting samples for $0.25 \leq x \leq 0.28$ with $\chi''$ peaking at $\sim 6$ meV. The IC peaks at 6 meV become smaller in intensity with increasing $x$ and, finally, become unobservable for a sample with $x=0.30$ which has no bulk superconductivity. The maximum $\chi''$ decreases linearly with $T_c$(onset) in the overdoped region, implying a direct cooperative relation between the spin fluctuations and the superconductivity.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figure

Neutron scattering study of soft phonons and diffuse scattering in insulating La1.95_{1.95}Sr0.05_{0.05}CuO4_{4}

Soft phonons and diffuse scattering in insulating La$_{2-x}$Sr$_{x}$CuO$_4$ ($x=0.05$) have been studied by the neutron scattering technique. The X-point phonon softens from high temperature towards the structural transition temperature $T_{s}=410$ K, and the Z-point phonon softens again below 200 K. The Z-point phonon softening persists to low temperature, in contrast to the behavior observed in the superconducting $x=0.15$ compound, in which the Z-point phonon hardens below $T_c$. The diffuse scattering associated with the structural phase transition at 410 K appears at commensurate positions. These results highlight interesting differences between superconducting and insulating samples.Comment: 5 pages, 5 figure

Resonant inelastic X-ray scattering study of overdoped La2−x_{2-x}Srx_{x}CuO4_{4}

Resonant inelastic x-ray scattering (RIXS) at the copper K absorption edge has been performed for heavily overdoped samples of La$_{2-x}$Sr$_{x}$CuO$_{4}$ with $x= 0.25$ and 0.30. We have observed the charge transfer and molecular-orbital excitations which exhibit resonances at incident energies of $E_i= 8.992$ and 8.998 keV, respectively. From a comparison with previous results on undoped and optimally-doped samples, we determine that the charge-transfer excitation energy increases monotonically as doping increases. In addition, the $E_i$-dependences of the RIXS spectral weight and absorption spectrum exhibit no clear peak at $E_i = 8.998$ keV in contrast to results in the underdoped samples. The low-energy ($\leq 3$ eV) continuum excitation intensity has been studied utilizing the high energy resolution of 0.13 eV (FWHM). A comparison of the RIXS profiles at $(\pi ~0)$ and $(\pi ~\pi)$ indicates that the continuum intensity exists even at $(\pi ~\pi)$ in the overdoped samples, whereas it has been reported only at $(0 ~0)$ and $(\pi ~0)$ for the $x=0.17$ sample. Furthermore, we also found an additional excitation on top of the continuum intensity at the $(\pi ~\pi)$ and $(\pi ~0)$ positions.Comment: 7 pages, 7 figure

Diagonal static spin correlation in the low temperature orthorhombic Pccn phase of La1.55Nd0.4Sr0.05CuO4

Elastic neutron scattering measurements have been performed on Nd, Sr co-doped La1.55Nd0.4Sr0.05CuO4, which exhibits a structural phase transition at Ts ~ 60K from the low temperature orthorhombic Bmab phase (labelled LTO1) to the low temperature orthorhombic Pccn phase (labelled LTO2). At low temperatures, well below Ts, elastic magnetic peaks are observed at the ``diagonal'' incommensurate (IC) positions (0, 1+/-0.055, 0), with modulation direction only along the orthorhombic b-axis just as in Nd-free La1.95Sr0.05CuO4. In the present study, the one-dimensionality of the IC modulation, which is naturally explained by a stripe model, is clearly demonstrated with our "single-domain" crystal. The temperature dependence of the IC peak intensity suggests a substantial contribution from the Nd3+ spins below ~3K. Consistent with this, the L dependence of the magnetic scattering is accurately accounted for by a model in which the contribution of the Nd3+ spins is explicitly included.Comment: 8 pages, 8 figure