Abstract
We propose a novel chiral order parameter to explain the unusual polar Kerr effect in underdoped cuprates. It is based on the loop-current model by Varma, which is characterized by the in-plane anapole moment and exhibits the magnetoelectric effect. We propose a helical structure where the vector in the layer is twisted by the angle relative to , thus breaking inversion symmetry. We show that coupling between magnetoelectric terms in the neighboring layers for this structure produces optical gyrotropy, which results in circular dichroism and the polar Kerr effect.
- Received 31 March 2013
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.111.047005
© 2013 American Physical Society
Erratum
Erratum: Proposed Chiral Texture of the Magnetic Moments of Unit-Cell Loop Currents in the Pseudogap Phase of Cuprate Superconductors [Phys. Rev. Lett. 111, 047005 (2013)]
Sergey S. Pershoguba, Kostyantyn Kechedzhi, and Victor M. Yakovenko
Phys. Rev. Lett. 113, 129901 (2014)
Synopsis
Twisting Microscopic Currents
Published 25 July 2013
A helical arrangement of microscopic currents could explain the unusual optical properties of cuprate superconductors.
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