Unifying the Phase Diagrams of the Magnetic and Transport Properties of La_(2-x)Sr_xCuO_4, 0 < x < 0.05

TL;DR

This paper unifies the magnetic and transport phase diagrams of La_(2-x)Sr_xCuO_4 for 0 < x < 0.05, using experimental data and a microscopic model that incorporates disorder and strong correlations to explain impurity effects and conduction mechanisms.

Contribution

It introduces a comprehensive theory linking magnetic phases with impurity-driven transport mechanisms in La_(2-x)Sr_xCuO_4, bridging experimental observations across the insulator-metal transition.

Findings

Transport mechanisms are similar in x=0.002 and x=0.04 samples.

Impurity effects and strong correlations are both crucial in low-temperature conduction.

Proposed phase diagram connects undoped and lightly doped regimes.

Abstract

An extensive experimental and theoretical effort has led to a largely complete mapping of the magnetic phase diagram of La_(2-x)Sr_xCuO_4, and a microscopic model of the spin textures produced in the x < 0.05 regime has been shown to be in agreement with this phase diagram. Here we use this same model to derive a theory of the impurity-dominated, low temperature transport. Then, we present an analysis of previously published data for two samples: x = 0.002 data from Chen et. al., and x = 0.04 data from Keimer et. al. We show that the transport mechanisms in the two systems are the same, even though they are on opposite sides of the observed insulator-to-metal transition. Our model of impurity effects on the impurity band conduction, variable-range hopping conduction, and coulomb gap conduction, is similar to that used to describe doped semiconductors. However, for La_(2-x)Sr_xCuO_4 we find that in addition to impurity-generated disorder effects, strong correlations are important and must be treated on a equal level with disorder. On the basis of this work we propose a phase diagram that is consistent with available magnetic and transport experiments, and which connects the undoped parent compound with the lowest x value for which La_(2-x)Sr_xCuO_4 is found to be superconducting, x about 0.06.