Hidden magnetic excitation in the pseudogap phase of a model cuprate superconductor

TL;DR

This paper reports the discovery of a magnetic excitation mode in a cuprate superconductor's pseudogap phase, supporting the existence of a new magnetic order related to circulating currents and quantum criticality.

Contribution

It provides inelastic neutron scattering evidence of a collective magnetic mode linked to the pseudogap phase, advancing understanding of its magnetic properties and underlying order.

Findings

Magnetic mode energy is 52-56 meV.

Mode intensity increases below T*.

Supports circulating current order hypothesis.

Abstract

The elucidation of the pseudogap phenomenon of the cuprates, a set of anomalous physical properties below the characteristic temperature T* and above the superconducting transition temperature Tc, has been a major challenge in condensed matter physics for the past two decades. Following initial indications of broken time-reversal symmetry in photoemission experiments, recent polarized neutron diffraction work demonstrated the universal existence of an unusual magnetic order below T*. These findings have the profound implication that the pseudogap regime constitutes a genuine new phase of matter rather than a mere crossover phenomenon. They are furthermore consistent with a particular type of order involving circulating orbital currents, and with the notion that the phase diagram is controlled by a quantum critical point. Here we report inelastic neutron scattering results for HgBa2CuO4+x (Hg1201) that reveal a fundamental collective magnetic mode associated with the unusual order, and that further support this picture. The mode's intensity rises below the same temperature T* and its dispersion is weak, as expected for an Ising-like order parameter. Its energy of 52-56 meV and its enormous integrated spectral weight render it a new candidate for the hitherto unexplained ubiquitous electron-boson coupling features observed in spectroscopic studies.