Screening of Point Charge Impurities in Highly Anisotropic Metals: Application to μ+-Spin Relaxation in Underdoped Cuprate Superconductors

Arkady Shekhter; Lei Shu; Vivek Aji; D. E. MacLaughlin; C. M. Varma

doi:10.1103/PhysRevLett.101.227004

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Screening of Point Charge Impurities in Highly Anisotropic Metals: Application to μ+-Spin Relaxation in Underdoped Cuprate Superconductors

Arkady Shekhter, Lei Shu, Vivek Aji, D. E. MacLaughlin, C. M. Varma

DOI 10.1103/PhysRevLett.101.227004 · Physical Review Letters

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Abstract

We calculate the screening charge density distribution due to a point charge, such as that of a positive muon (μ+), placed between the planes of a highly anisotropic layered metal. In underdoped hole cuprates the screening charge converts the charge density in the metallic-plane unit cells in the vicinity of the μ+ to nearly its value in the insulating state. The current-loop-ordered state observed by polarized neutron diffraction then vanishes in such cells, and also in nearby cells over a distance of order the intrinsic correlation length of the loop-ordered state. This strongly suppresses the magnetic field at the μ+ site. We estimate this suppressed field in underdoped YBa2Cu3O6+x and La2−xSrxCuO4, and find consistency with the observed ∼0.2 G field in the former case and the observed upper bound of ∼0.2 G in the latter case. This resolves the controversy between the neutron diffraction and mu-spin relaxation experiments.

Source-reported materials — not catalogue approval

Formula	Reported Tc (K)	Pressure (GPa)	Type
YBa2Cu3O6+x Archive — visibility unverified Source-occurrence policy only; no material identity or catalogue acceptance is inferred from the formula.	—	Pressure not reported	unknown
La2-xSrxCuO4 Archive — visibility unverified Source-occurrence policy only; no material identity or catalogue acceptance is inferred from the formula.	—	Pressure not reported	unknown
HgBa2CuO4 Archive — visibility unverified Source-occurrence policy only; no material identity or catalogue acceptance is inferred from the formula.	—	Pressure not reported	unknown
Bi2Sr2CaCu2O8+δ Archive — visibility unverified Source-occurrence policy only; no material identity or catalogue acceptance is inferred from the formula.	—	Pressure not reported	unknown