139La-NMR Study of Spin Dynamics Coupled with Hole Mobility in T*-type La0.86Eu0.86Sr0.28CuO4−δ

Abstract

In T*-type cuprate oxides with five-oxygen coordination, the relationship between spin correlations and doped carriers has not been well understood. To clarify this relationship, and the magnetic and superconducting (SC) properties of T*-type cuprate oxides, we performed 139La-nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) and electrical resistivity measurements on as-sintered (AS) and oxidation-annealed (OA) polycrystalline T*-type La0.86Eu0.86S0.28CuO4 (LESCO) to investigate its magnetic and SC properties. Upon cooling, the NMR spectrum of AS LESCO broadened below 3 K, where the nuclear spin–lattice relaxation rate 1/T1 with respect to the temperature exhibited a maximum, indicating the appearance of static magnetism. The temperature dependence of 1/T1 between 3 and 20 K was similar to that of resistivity, which displays semiconducting behavior. Furthermore, it was found that the energy scales of the transport gap and spin dynamics were 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 La2−xSrxCuO4. In the OA SC sample, we confirmed the absence of a magnetic order and the linear relation between 1/T1 and T above 10 K. These results suggest that the magnetic state coupled with holes markedly changes to the weakly correlated metallic state by oxidation annealing in the T*-type LESCO with x = 0.28.