Spin-charge interplay in antiferromagnetic La$_{2-x}$Sr$_{x}$CuO$_{4}$ studied by the muons, neutrons, and ARPES techniques

Abstract

Exploring whether a spin density wave (SDW) is responsible for the charge excitations gap in the high-temperature superconducting cuprates is difficult, since the region of the phase diagram where the magnetic properties are clearly exposed is different from the region where the band dispersion is visible. On the one hand, long range magnetic order disappears as doping approaches 2% from below, hindering our ability to perform elastic neutron scattering (ENS). On the other hand, cuprates become insulating at low temperature when the doping approaches 2% from above, thus restricting angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy (ARPES). In fact, ARPES data for samples with doping lower than 3% are rare and missing the quasiparticle peaks in the energy distribution curves (EDCs). The main problem is the high resistivity of extremely underdoped samples, which is detrimental to ARPES due to charging effects. Nevertheless, the resistivity of La$_{2-x}$Sr$_{x}$CuO$_{4}$ as a function of temperature, at 2% doping, has a broad minimum around 100K. This minimum opens a window for both experiments. By preparing a series of LSCO single crystals with $\sim $0.2-0.3% doping steps around 2%, we managed to find one to which both techniques apply. This allows us to explore the cross talk between the magnetic and electronic properties of the material.