Friday, April 5, 2013

1304.1341 (A. T. R\omer et al.)

Glassy low-energy spin fluctuations and anisotropy gap in
La1.88Sr0.12CuO4
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A. T. R\omer, J. Chang, N. B. Christensen, B. M. Andersen, K. Lefmann, L. Mähler, J. Gavilano, R. Gilardi, Ch. Niedermayer, H. M. R\onnow, A. Schneidewind, P. Link, M. Oda, M. Ido, N. Momono, J. Mesot
We present high-resolution triple-axis neutron scattering studies of the high-temperature superconductor La1.88Sr0.12CuO4 (Tc=27 K). The temperature dependence of the low-energy incommensurate magnetic fluctuations reveals distinctly glassy features. The glassiness is confirmed by the difference between the ordering temperature TN ~ Tc inferred from elastic neutron scattering and the freezing temperature Tf ~ 11 K obtained from muon spin rotation studies. The magnetic field independence of the observed excitation spectrum as well as the observation of a partial suppression of magnetic spectral weight below 0.75 meV for temperatures smaller than Tf, indicate that the stripe frozen state is capable of supporting a spin anisotropy gap, of a magnitude similar to that observed in the spin and charge stripe ordered ground state of La1.875Ba0.125CuO4. The difference between TN and Tf implies that the significant enhancement in a magnetic field of nominally elastic incommensurate scattering is caused by strictly in-elastic scattering -- at least in the temperature range between Tf and Tc -- which is not resolved in the present experiment. Combining the results obtained from our study of La1.88Sr0.12CuO4 with a critical reappraisal of published neutron scattering work on samples with chemical composition close to p=0.12, where local probes indicate a sharp maximum in Tf(p), we arrive at the view that the low-energy fluctuations are strongly dependent on composition in this regime, with anisotropy gaps dominating only sufficiently close to p=0.12 and superconducting spin gaps dominating elsewhere.
View original: http://arxiv.org/abs/1304.1341

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