Stripes Disorder and Correlation lengths in doped antiferromagnets

TL;DR

This paper proposes that the ratio of spin to charge correlation lengths in doped antiferromagnets reveals whether stripe disorder is dominated by topological defects or elastic deformations, indicating a Bragg glass state.

Contribution

It introduces a criterion based on correlation length ratios to identify the dominant disorder mechanism in stripe phases of doped antiferromagnets, emphasizing the relevance of Bragg glass behavior.

Findings

Ratio of correlation lengths distinguishes disorder types.

Observed ratios suggest Bragg glass state in studied materials.

Topological defects are less relevant than previously thought.

Abstract

For stripes in doped antiferromagnets, we find that the ratio of spin and charge correlation lenghts, $\xi_{s}/\xi_{c}$, provide a sharp criterion for determining the dominant form of disorder in the system. If stripes disorder is controlled by topological defects then $\xi_{s}/\xi_{c}\lesssim 1$. In contast, if stripes correlations are disordered primarily by non-topological elastic deformations (i.e., a Bragg-Glass type of disorder) then $1<\xi _{s}/\xi_{c}\lesssim 4$ is expected. Therefore, the observation of $\xi _{s}/\xi_{c}\approx 4$ in $(LaNd)_{2-x}Sr_{x}CuO_{4}$ and $\xi_{s}/\xi _{c}\approx 3$ in $La_{2/3}Sr_{1/3}NiO_{4}$ invariably implies that the stripes are in a Bragg glass type state, and topological defects are much less relevant than commonly assumed. Expected spectral properties are discussed. Thus, we establish the basis for any theoretical analysis of the experimentally obsereved glassy state in these material.