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An hour-glass magnetic spectrum in an insulating, hole-doped antiferromagnet

Nature volume 471, pages 341–344 (2011)Cite this article

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Abstract

Superconductivity in layered copper oxide compounds emerges when charge carriers are added to antiferromagnetically ordered CuO2 layers1. The carriers destroy the antiferromagnetic order, but strong spin fluctuations persist throughout the superconducting phase and are intimately linked to superconductivity2. Neutron scattering measurements of spin fluctuations in hole-doped copper oxides have revealed an unusual ‘hour-glass’ feature in the momentum-resolved magnetic spectrum that is present in a wide range of superconducting and non-superconducting materials3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12,13,14,15. There is no widely accepted explanation for this feature. One possibility is that it derives from a pattern of alternating spin and charge stripes16, and this idea is supported by measurements on stripe-ordered La1.875Ba0.125CuO4 (ref. 15). Many copper oxides without stripe order, however, also exhibit an hour-glass spectrum3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12. Here we report the observation of an hour-glass magnetic spectrum in a hole-doped antiferromagnet from outside the family of superconducting copper oxides. Our system has stripe correlations and is an insulator, which means that its magnetic dynamics can conclusively be ascribed to stripes. The results provide compelling evidence that the hour-glass spectrum in the copper oxide superconductors arises from fluctuating stripes.

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Figure 1: Crystal structure and magnetic order of La5/3Sr1/3CoO4.
Figure 2: Neutron scattering intensity maps of the magnetic excitation spectrum of La5/3Sr1/3CoO4.
Figure 3: Dispersion of the magnetic excitation spectrum of La5/3Sr1/3CoO4.
Figure 4: Simulations of the magnetic spectrum of La5/3Sr1/3CoO4.

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Acknowledgements

We thank F. Essler and E.W. Carlson for discussions. This work was supported by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council of Great Britain and the Paul Scherrer Institut, Switzerland.

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Author notes

  1. P. G. Freeman

    Present address: Present address: Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlin für Materialien und Energie, Hahn-Meitner Platz 1, D-14109 Berlin, Germany.,

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Physics, University of Oxford, Clarendon Laboratory, Oxford OX1 3PU, UK,

    A. T. Boothroyd, P. Babkevich & D. Prabhakaran

  2. Laboratory for Neutron Scattering, Paul Scherrer Institut, CH-5232 Villigen PSI, Switzerland ,

    P. Babkevich

  3. Institut Laue–Langevin, BP 156, 38042 Grenoble Cedex 9, France ,

    P. G. Freeman

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Contributions

D.P. prepared and characterized the single-crystal samples. A.T.B., P.B. and P.G.F. performed the neutron scattering experiments. A.T.B. developed the theoretical model and P.B. performed the data analysis. A.T.B. wrote the manuscript.

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Correspondence to A. T. Boothroyd.

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Boothroyd, A., Babkevich, P., Prabhakaran, D. et al. An hour-glass magnetic spectrum in an insulating, hole-doped antiferromagnet. Nature 471, 341–344 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1038/nature09902

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