Abstract
We report a comprehensive neutron-scattering study of the evolution of the magnetic excitations in for 0≤x≤0.04. We first present accurate measurements of the magnetic correlation length and the sublattice magnetization of a carrier-free crystal and analyze these in the context of recent theoretical predictions. We then systematically investigate the influence of different dopants on the magnetism: Our measurements indicate that static vacancies in the system affect the magnetic correlations in a similar manner as electrons in . The magnetic correlation length is much more rapidly suppressed as a function of x in , and for x≤0.04 we find that it obeys the empirical relation (x,T)=(x,0)+(0,T), where ξ(0,T) is the measured correlation length of the carrier-free sample. We also report an extensive set of measurements of the dynamical magnetic response function of a crystal of composition for excitation energies 0.75≤ω≤45 meV and temperatures 1.5≤T≤500 K.
The dc conductivity of this crystal exhibits three different regimes: metallic for T≥100 K, weakly localized for 100≥T≥10 K, and strongly localized below ∼1 K. Our neutron measurements show that the generalized susceptibility of this sample follows a surprisingly simple scaling function in the variable ω/T. This observation allows us to relate our data to a variety of normal-state properties of the layered copper oxides, in particular the dc and ac conductivities. Finally, at temperatures below ∼20 K a ‘‘central peak’’ with a characteristic energy scale of less than 0.1 meV becomes prominent. Its relation to the localization of the charge carriers at low temperatures remains speculative.
- Received 8 April 1992
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevB.46.14034
©1992 American Physical Society