Mobile anti-phase domains in lightly doped lanthanum cuprate

Abstract

Light hole doping of lanthanum cuprate strongly suppresses the onset of antiferromagnetic (AF) order. Surprisingly, it simultaneously suppresses the extrapolated zero temperature sub-lattice magnetization. 139La NQR results in lightly Li-doped lanthanum cuprate have demonstrated that these effects are independent of the details of the mobility of the added holes. We propose a model in which doped holes phase separate into charged domain walls that surround ``anti-phase'' domains. These domains are mobile down to ~30 K where they either become pinned to the lattice or evaporate as their constituent holes become pinned to dopant impurities.