$^{139}$La-NMR study of spin-dynamics coupled with hole mobility in $T$*-type La$_{0.86}$Eu$_{0.86}$Sr$_{0.28}$CuO$_{4-\delta}$

TL;DR

This study uses $^{139}$La-NMR and resistivity measurements to explore the relationship between spin dynamics and hole mobility in $T$*-type La$_{0.86}$Eu$_{0.86}$Sr$_{0.28}$CuO$_{4- ext{delta}}$, revealing a transition from magnetic order to metallic behavior upon annealing.

Contribution

It provides new insights into how oxidation annealing affects magnetic and electronic states in $T$*-type cuprates, linking spin dynamics with carrier mobility.

Findings

Static magnetism appears below 3 K in as-sintered samples.

Resistivity shows semiconducting behavior correlated with spin dynamics.

Annealed samples exhibit metallic behavior with no magnetic order.

Abstract

In $T$*-type cuprate oxides with five oxygen coordination, little is known about the relationship between the spin correlations and dope carriers. We performed $^{139}$La-nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) and electrical resistivity measurements on an as-sintered (AS) and oxidation annealed (OA) polycrystalline $T$*-type La$_{0.86}$Eu$_{0.86}$S$_{0.28}$CuO$_4$ (LESCO) to investigate its magnetic and superconducting (SC) properties. Upon cooling, the NMR spectrum of AS LESCO broadened below 3 K, at which the nuclear spin-lattice relaxation rate $1/T_1$ against the temperature exhibited a maximum, thereby indicating the appearance of static magnetism. The temperature dependence of $1/T_1$ between 3 K and 20 K was similar to that of the resistivity displaying the semiconducting behavior. Furthermore, the energy scale of the transport gap and spin-dynamics estimated was found to be comparable. These results suggest a close connection between the mobility of the doped carriers and low-energy spin-dynamics, as reported for lightly doped $T$-type La$_{2-x}$Sr$_x$CuO$_4$. In the OA SC sample, we confirmed the absence of a magnetic order and the Korringa relation above 10 K. Therefore, in the $T$*-type LESCO with $x$ = 0.28, the magnetic state coupled with holes drastically turns to the weakly correlated metallic state by oxidation annealing.