Pressure tuning of structure, superconductivity and novel magnetic order in the Ce-underdoped electron-doped cuprate T'-Pr_1.3-xLa_0.7Ce_xCuO_4 (x = 0.1)

TL;DR

This study investigates how applying high pressure affects the structure, magnetic order, and superconductivity in a Ce-underdoped electron-doped cuprate, revealing pressure-induced enhancement of magnetic order and suppression of superconductivity.

Contribution

It provides the first detailed analysis of pressure effects on structural, magnetic, and superconducting properties in T'-Pr_1.3-xLa_0.7Ce_xCuO_4 with x=0.1, highlighting the intrinsic magnetic order as a competing phase.

Findings

Pressure reduces lattice constants a and c.

No phase transition from T' to T observed up to 11 GPa.

Magnetic order temperature T_so increases non-linearly with pressure.

Abstract

High-pressure neutron powder diffraction, muon-spin rotation and magnetization studies of the structural, magnetic and the superconducting properties of the Ce-underdoped superconducting (SC) electron-doped cuprate system T'-Pr_1.3-xLa_0.7Ce_xCuO_4 with x = 0.1 are reported. A strong reduction of the lattice constants a and c is observed under pressure. However, no indication of any pressure induced phase transition from T' to T structure is observed up to the maximum applied pressure of p = 11 GPa. Large and non-linear increase of the short-range magnetic order temperature T_so in T'-Pr_1.3-xLa_0.7Ce_xCuO_4 (x = 0.1) was observed under pressure. Simultaneously pressure causes a non-linear decrease of the SC transition temperature T_c. All these experiments establish the short-range magnetic order as an intrinsic and a new competing phase in SC T'-Pr_1.2La_0.7Ce_0.1CuO_4. The observed pressure effects may be interpreted in terms of the improved nesting conditions through the reduction of the in-plane and out-of-plane lattice constants upon hydrostatic pressure.