Commensurate-incommensurate crossover of charge stripe in La2-xSrxNiO4 (x approximately 1/3)

Measurement of Spin Dynamics in a Layered Nickelate Using X-Ray Photon Correlation Spectroscopy: Evidence for Intrinsic Destabilization of Incommensurate Stripes at Low Temperatures

We study the temporal stability of stripe-type spin order in a layered nickelate with x-ray photon correlation spectroscopy and observe fluctuations on timescales of tens of minutes over a wide temperature range. These fluctuations show an anomalous temperature dependence: they slow down at intermediate temperatures and speed up on both heating and cooling. This behavior appears to be directly connected with spatial correlations: stripes fluctuate slowly when stripe correlation lengths are large and become faster when spatial correlations decrease. A low-temperature decay of nickelate stripe correlations, reminiscent of what occurs in cuprates as a result of a competition between stripes and superconductivity, hence occurs via loss of both spatial and temporal correlations.

Charge Condensation and Lattice Coupling Drives Stripe Formation in Nickelates

Revealing the predominant driving force behind symmetry breaking in correlated materials is sometimes a formidable task due to the intertwined nature of different degrees of freedom. This is the case for La_{2-x}Sr_{x}NiO_{4+δ}, in which coupled incommensurate charge and spin stripes form at low temperatures. Here, we use resonant x-ray photon correlation spectroscopy to study the temporal stability and domain memory of the charge and spin stripes in La_{2-x}Sr_{x}NiO_{4+δ}. Although spin stripes are more spatially correlated, charge stripes maintain a better temporal stability against temperature change. More intriguingly, charge order shows robust domain memory with thermal cycling up to 250 K, far above the ordering temperature. These results demonstrate the pinning of charge stripes to the lattice and that charge condensation is the predominant factor in the formation of stripe orders in nickelates.

Evidence for a Nematic Phase in La_{1.75}Sr_{0.25}NiO_{4}

Determining the nature of electronic states in doped Mott insulators remains a challenging task. In the case of tetragonal La_{2-x}Sr_{x}NiO_{4}, the occurrence of diagonal charge and spin stripe order in the ground state is now well established. In contrast, the nature of the high-temperature "disordered" state from which the stripe order develops has long been a subject of controversy, with considerable speculation regarding a polaronic liquid. Following the recent detection of dynamic charge stripes, we use neutron scattering measurements on an x=0.25 crystal to demonstrate that the dispersion of the charge-stripe excitations is anisotropic. This observation provides compelling evidence for the presence of electronic nematic order.

Direct observation of dynamic charge stripes in La2-xSrxNiO4

The insulator-to-metal transition continues to be a challenging subject, especially when electronic correlations are strong. In layered compounds, such as La2-xSrxNiO4 and La2-xBaxCuO4, the doped charge carriers can segregate into periodically spaced charge stripes separating narrow domains of antiferromagnetic order. Although there have been theoretical proposals of dynamically fluctuating stripes, direct spectroscopic evidence of charge-stripe fluctuations has been lacking. Here we report the detection of critical lattice fluctuations, driven by charge-stripe correlations, in La2-xSrxNiO4 using inelastic neutron scattering. This scattering is detected at large momentum transfers where the magnetic form factor suppresses the spin fluctuation signal. The lattice fluctuations associated with the dynamic charge stripes are narrow in q and broad in energy. They are strongest near the charge-stripe melting temperature. Our results open the way towards the quantitative theory of dynamic stripes and for directly detecting dynamical charge stripes in other strongly correlated systems, including high-temperature superconductors such as La2-xSrxCuO4.

LaBaNiO(4): a Fermi glass

Polycrystalline samples of LaSr(1-x)Ba(x)NiO(4) show a crossover from a state with metallic transport properties for x = 0 to an insulating state as [Formula: see text]. The end member LaBaNiO(4) with a nominal nickel Ni 3d(7) configuration might therefore be regarded as a candidate for an antiferromagnetic insulator. However, we do not observe any magnetic ordering in LaBaNiO(4) down to 1.5 K, and despite its insulating transport properties several other physical properties of LaBaNiO(4) resemble those of metallic LaSrNiO(4). Based on an analysis of electrical and thermal-conductivity data as well as magnetic-susceptibility and low-temperature specific-heat measurements, we suggest that LaBaNiO(4) is a Fermi glass with a finite electron density of states at the Fermi level but these states are localized.