Two routes to magnetic order by disorder in underdoped cuprates

TY - JOUR

T1 - Two routes to magnetic order by disorder in underdoped cuprates

AU - Christensen , R.B.

AU - Hirschfeld, P.J.

AU - Andersen, Brian Møller

PY - 2011/11/14

Y1 - 2011/11/14

N2 - We study disorder-induced magnetism within the Gutzwiller approximation applied to the t-J model relevant for cuprate superconductors. In particular, we show how disorder generates magnetic phases by inducing local droplets of antiferromagnetic order which eventually merge and form a quasi-long-range ordered state in the underdoped regime. We identify two distinct disorder-induced magnetic phases of this type depending on the strength of the scatterers. For weak potential scatterers used to model dopant disorder, charge reorganization may push local regions in between the impurities across the magnetic phase boundary, whereas for strong scatterers used to model substitutional ions, a local static magnetic moment is formed around each impurity. We calculate the density of states and find a remarkably universal low-energy behavior largely independent of both disorder and magnetization. However, the magnetic regions are characterized by larger (reduced) superconducting gap (coherence peaks) and a subgap kink in the density of states.

AB - We study disorder-induced magnetism within the Gutzwiller approximation applied to the t-J model relevant for cuprate superconductors. In particular, we show how disorder generates magnetic phases by inducing local droplets of antiferromagnetic order which eventually merge and form a quasi-long-range ordered state in the underdoped regime. We identify two distinct disorder-induced magnetic phases of this type depending on the strength of the scatterers. For weak potential scatterers used to model dopant disorder, charge reorganization may push local regions in between the impurities across the magnetic phase boundary, whereas for strong scatterers used to model substitutional ions, a local static magnetic moment is formed around each impurity. We calculate the density of states and find a remarkably universal low-energy behavior largely independent of both disorder and magnetization. However, the magnetic regions are characterized by larger (reduced) superconducting gap (coherence peaks) and a subgap kink in the density of states.

U2 - 10.1103/PhysRevB.84.184511

DO - 10.1103/PhysRevB.84.184511

M3 - Journal article

SN - 2469-9950

VL - 84

SP - 184511

JO - Physical Review B

JF - Physical Review B

IS - 18

ER -