Nematicity as a route to a magnetic field-induced spin density wave order; application to the high temperature cuprates

TL;DR

This paper explores how electronic nematic order and magnetic fields interact to induce a spin density wave in high-temperature cuprates, revealing a mechanism for field-induced magnetic order.

Contribution

It demonstrates that nematicity combined with magnetic fields can induce a spin density wave order through coupling with other magnetic orders, a novel insight into cuprate phase behavior.

Findings

Magnon gap decreases with increasing magnetic field.

Critical magnetic field induces spin density wave order.

Both commensurate and incommensurate orders are analyzed.

Abstract

The electronic nematic order characterized by broken rotational symmetry has been suggested to play an important role in the phase diagram of the high temperature cuprates. We study the interplay between the electronic nematic order and a spin density wave order in the presence of a magnetic field. We show that a cooperation of the nematicity and the magnetic field induces a finite coupling between the spin density wave and spin-triplet staggered flux orders. As a consequence of such a coupling, the magnon gap decreases as the magnetic field increases, and it eventually condenses beyond a critical magnetic field leading to a field-induced spin density wave order. Both commensurate and incommensurate orders are studied, and the experimental implications of our findings are discussed.