Magnetism and Electrical Conduction in Lightly-Doped Single-Layer High-$T_c$ Cuprate $\mathrm{La}_2\mathrm{CuO}_{4+\delta}$

Abstract

The temperature dependences of magnetization and electrical resistivity as well as their magnetic field dependences have been examined in lightly-doped single-layer cuprate $\mathrm{La}_2\mathrm{CuO}_{4+\delta}$ (LCO, hole-doping level $p \, (2\delta) \cong 0.03$) single crystals, in comparison with those in the extremely low doping region of $p \lesssim 0.015$ to uncover the intrinsic magnetism and electrical conduction of the $\mathrm{Cu\text{-}O}$ plane that exhibits both antiferromagnetic (AF) and superconducting (SC) orders simultaneously. In $p \cong 0.03$ SC LCO, the sub-lattice moments on $\mathrm{Cu}$ sites and their AF couplings are only $\sim 15\,\%$ smaller than those of the Mott-insulator parent material, suggesting that the localization of $\mathrm{Cu}$ $3d$ electrons remains very strong. Furthermore, we report that in the SC LCO, two-dimensional AF spin correlations develop rapidly from $T^* \cong 280\text{ K}$ towards N\'eel temperature $T_{\mathrm{N}} = 266\text{ K}$, where the out-of-plane resistivity starts to decrease largely. This might be responsible for the AF ordering at such a high temperature in the SC single-layer cuprate with $p \cong 0.03$.