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Polar Kerr effect from a time-reversal symmetry breaking unidirectional charge density wave

M. Gradhand, I. Eremin, and J. Knolle
Phys. Rev. B 91, 060512(R) – Published 27 February 2015

Abstract

We analyze the Hall conductivity σxy(ω) of a charge ordered state with momentum Q=(0,2Q) and calculate the intrinsic contribution to the Kerr angle ΘK using the fully reconstructed tight-binding band structure for layered cuprates beyond the low energy hot spot model and particle-hole symmetry. We show that such a unidirectional charge density wave (CDW), which breaks time-reversal symmetry, as recently put forward by Wang and Chubukov [Phys. Rev. B 90, 035149 (2014)], leads to a nonzero polar Kerr effect, as observed experimentally. In addition, we model a fluctuating CDW via a large quasiparticle damping of the order of the CDW gap and discuss possible implications for the pseudogap phase. We can qualitatively reproduce previous measurements of underdoped cuprates, but making quantitative connections to experiments is hampered by the sensitivity of the polar Kerr effect with respect to the complex refractive index n(ω).

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  • Received 22 December 2014
  • Revised 4 February 2015

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevB.91.060512

©2015 American Physical Society

Authors & Affiliations

M. Gradhand1,*, I. Eremin2,3, and J. Knolle4

  • 1H. H. Wills Physics Laboratory, University of Bristol, Bristol BS8 1TL, United Kingdom
  • 2Institut für Theoretische Physik III, Ruhr-Universität Bochum, Universitätsstrasse 150, DE-44801 Bochum, Germany
  • 3National University of Science and Technology MISiS, 119049 Moscow, Russian Federation
  • 4TCM Group, Cavendish Laboratory, J. J. Thomson Avenue, Cambridge CB3 0HE, United Kingdom

  • *Corresponding author: m.gradhand@bristol.ac.uk

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Issue

Vol. 91, Iss. 6 — 1 February 2015

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