Magnetic response of Pr$_{1-x}$LaCe$_x$CuO$_4$ in comparison with hole-doped cuprates

Abstract

The origin of differences in the magnetic responses of Pr$_{1-x}$LaCe$_x$CuO$_4$ with $x=0.11-0.12$ and moderately doped $p$-type cuprates is investigated using the t-J model, the Mori projection operator technique and dispersions of charge carriers derived from photoemission experiments. These differences are related to the proximity of the former crystal to the boundary of the antiferromagnetic phase and to the remoteness of $p$-type compounds from it. This leads to different nesting vectors of the low-frequency equi-energy contours of carrier dispersions in these crystals. The strong nesting with the antiferromagnetic momentum as the nesting vector produces the commensurate low-frequency response and the coexistence of two spin-excitation branches in Pr$_{1-x}$LaCe$_x$CuO$_4$, while incommensurate nesting vectors in $p$-type crystals lead to the incommensurate low-frequency response and the hourglass dispersion of susceptibility maxima.