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From the Mott Insulator {La}{Pr}CuO\(_4\) to the Quantum Metal {La}{V}CuO\(_4\)

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Abstract

High critical temperature cuprate superconducting materials are composed of copper oxide layers and interlayer charge reservoirs. When not doped, these cuprates behave as antiferromagnetic Mott insulators. We propose to design new materials by combining alternating layers of parents of hole-doped and electron-doped cuprates and modifications thereof. The idea behind this combination is to frustrate antiferromagnetism near half-filing. Our goal is to find an undoped cuprate that can be a quantum metal, which means a metal characterized by long-range antiferromagnetic order or only strong antiferromagnetic correlations, i.e., it could thus be a stable ground state against other perturbations. However, the new metallic states sought here could be precursors to new superconducting states in the absence or presence of doping. Using the density functional theory, we report on two hypothetical compounds, \(\lbrace\)La\(\rbrace \lbrace\)Pr\(\rbrace\)CuO\(_{4}\) and \(\lbrace\)La\(\rbrace \lbrace\)V\(\rbrace\)CuO\(_{4}\), that illustrate the different physics described above. The curly brackets mean that the preparation of these compounds shall be done by depositing a layer containing Pr, then one CuO\(_{2}\) layer, then finally the La layer in \(\lbrace\)La\(\rbrace \lbrace\)Pr\(\rbrace\)CuO\(_{4}\) for example. We examined the configurations formed by the positions of the charge reservoir‘s atoms with respect to the CuO\(_{2}\) layer in the new procedure we propose here. This paper reports on the X-ray diffraction, electronic, optical, and magnetic properties of these hypothetical materials. We found that \(\lbrace\)La\(\rbrace \lbrace\)Pr\(\rbrace\)CuO\(_{4}\) is a Mott insulator, but \(\lbrace\)La\(\rbrace \lbrace\)V\(\rbrace\)CuO\(_{4}\) is an undoped correlated quantum metal with long-range antiferromagnetic order. These two compounds illustrate well the transition from a Mott insulator to a quantum metal.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Laboratory of Condensed Matter and Interdisciplinary Sciences, Uniteì de Recherche Labelliseìe CNRST, URL-CNRST-17, Faculty of Sciences, Mohammed V University of Rabat, Rabat, Morocco

    S. Er-Rahmany, M. Loulidi, A. El Kenz & A. Benyoussef

  2. International University of Rabat, Aerospace Engineering School, LERMA, Sala El Jadida, Morocco

    S. Er-Rahmany & M. Azzouz

  3. Hassan II Academy of Sciences and Techniques, Rabat, Morocco

    A. Benyoussef

  4. Al Akhawayn University, School of Science and Engineering, P.O Box 104, Hassan II Avenue, 53000, Ifrane, Morocco

    M. Azzouz

  5. School of Natural Sciences, Chemical and Forensic Sciences, Laurentian University, Ramsey Lake Road, Sudbury, Ontario, Canada, P3E 2C6

    M. Azzouz

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  1. S. Er-Rahmany
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Er-Rahmany, S., Loulidi, M., El Kenz, A. et al. From the Mott Insulator {La}{Pr}CuO\(_4\) to the Quantum Metal {La}{V}CuO\(_4\). J Supercond Nov Magn 35, 2999–3018 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10948-022-06352-z

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