Crossover to non-Fermi-liquid spin dynamics in cuprates

Abstract

The antiferromagnetic spin correlation function $S_{\bf Q}$, the staggered spin susceptibility $χ_{\bf Q}$ and the energy scale $ω_{FL}=S_{\bf Q}/χ_{\bf Q}$ are studied numerically within the t-J model and the Hubbard model, as relevant to cuprates. It is shown that $ω_{FL}$, related to the onset of the non-Fermi-liquid spin response at $T>ω_{FL}$, is very low in the regime below the 'optimum' hole doping $c_h < c_h^* \sim 0.16$, while it shows a steep increase in the overdoped regime. A quantitative analysis of NMR spin-spin relaxation-rate $1/T_{2G}$ for various cuprates reveals a similar behavior, indicating on a sharp, but continuous, crossover between a Fermi-liquid and a non-Fermi-liquid behavior as a function of doping.

4 pages, 4 figures. Submitted to PRL