Peculiar roles of spins in the thermal conductivity of pure and doped La_{2}CuO_{4}: Comparison with CuGeO_{3}

TL;DR

This study investigates how spins influence thermal conductivity in pure and doped La_{2}CuO_{4} and compares it with CuGeO_{3} to understand the role of magnons and spin stripes in heat transport.

Contribution

It provides new insights into the roles of magnons and spin stripes in thermal conductivity and compares different spin ground states through heat transport measurements.

Findings

Magnons and spin stripes significantly affect heat transport.

Comparison reveals differences in spin ground states impact thermal conductivity.

Doping alters the contribution of spins to heat conduction.

Abstract

In-plane and out-of-plane thermal conductivities (\kappa_{ab} and \kappa_{c}) are measured on single crystals of pure, 1%-hole-doped, and 1%-Zn-doped La_{2}CuO_{4}. The roles of magnons and the spin stripes in the heat transport in these samples are discussed. Comparison with the heat transport in CuGeO_{3}, which shows similar \kappa(T) behavior as that of La_{2}CuO_{4}, gives us a lesson of how the heat transport can probe the difference in the spin ground state.