Incommensurate magnetic order and dynamics induced by spinless impurities in YBa(2)Cu(3)O(6.6).
We report an inelastic-neutron-scattering and muon-spin-relaxation study of the effect of 2% spinless (Zn) impurities on the magnetic order and dynamics of YBa(2)Cu(3)O(6.6), an underdoped high-temperature superconductor that exhibits a prominent spin pseudogap in its normal state. Zn substitution induces static magnetic order at low temperatures and triggers a large-scale spectral-weight redistribution from the magnetic resonant mode at 38 meV into uniaxial, incommensurate spin excitations with energies well below the spin pseudogap. These observations indicate a competition between incommensurate magnetic order and superconductivity close to a quantum critical point. Comparison to prior data on La(2-x)Sr(x)CuO(4) suggests that this behavior is universal for the layered copper oxides and analogous to impurity-induced magnetic order in one-dimensional quantum magnets.
Suchaneck
A
A
Max Planck Institute for Solid State Research, D-70569 Stuttgart, Germany.
Hinkov
V
V
Haug
D
D
Schulz
L
L
Bernhard
C
C
Ivanov
A
A
Hradil
K
K
Lin
C T
CT
Bourges
P
P
Keimer
B
B
Sidis
Y
Y