Application of antiferromagnetic-Fermi-liquid theory to NMR experiments in La1.85Sr0.15CuO4

Abstract

NMR experiments on ${\mathrm{La}}_{1.85}$ ${\mathrm{Sr}}_{0.15}$ ${\mathrm{CuO}}_4$ by Kitaoka et al. and Imai et al. are analyzed using the phenomenological antiferromagnetic (AF) Fermi liquid theory of Millis, Monien, and Pines, and the results are compared with those previously obtained for ${\mathrm{YBa}}_2$ ${\mathrm{Cu}}_3$ ${\mathrm{O}}_7$ and ${\mathrm{YBa}}_2$ ${\mathrm{Cu}}_3$ ${\mathrm{O}}_{6.63}$. A one-component model, with hyperfine couplings that are unchanged from those found previously for ${\mathrm{YBa}}_2$ ${\mathrm{Cu}}_3$ ${\mathrm{O}}_7$ and ${\mathrm{YBa}}_2$ ${\mathrm{Cu}}_3$ ${\mathrm{O}}_{6.63}$, and parameters obtained from experiment, provide a quantitative fit to the data. At all temperatures the antiferromagnetic correlations found in ${\mathrm{La}}_{1.85}$ ${\mathrm{Sr}}_{0.15}$ ${\mathrm{CuO}}_4$ are stronger than those found for the Y-Ba-Cu-O samples with the result that the characteristic energy for the antiferromagnetic paramagnons that describe the AF spin dynamics is quite low (<kT and ∼20 K at ${\mathit{T}}_{\mathit{c}}$). We use the deduced paramagnon energies to calculate the contribution to the electrical resistivity from quasiparticle-antiferromagnetic paramagnon scattering for ${\mathrm{La}}_{1.85}$ ${\mathrm{Sr}}_{0.15}$ ${\mathrm{CuO}}_4$, ${\mathrm{YBa}}_2$ ${\mathrm{Cu}}_3$ ${\mathrm{O}}_7$, and ${\mathrm{YBa}}_2$ ${\mathrm{Cu}}_3$ ${\mathrm{O}}_{6.63}$, and find that it displays a linear temperature dependence for all three materials. Our results support the proposal that the properties of a nearly antiferromagnetic Fermi liquid are genuinely novel, and suggest that both the spin and charge aspects of the normal-state properties of the cuprate oxide superconductors can be quantitatively explained...