Complementary response of static spin-stripe order and superconductivity to non-magnetic impurities in cuprates

Abstract: We report muon-spin rotation and neutron-scattering experiments on non-magnetic Zn impurity effects on the static spin-stripe order and superconductivity of the La214 cuprates. Remarkably, it was found that, for samples with hole doping x = 1/8, the spin-stripe ordering temperature T_so decreases linearly with Zn doping y and disappears at around y = 4\%, demonstrating a high sensitivity of static spin-stripe order to impurities within a CuO_2 plane. Moreover, T_so is suppressed by Zn in the same manner as is the superconducting transition temperature T_c for samples near optimal hole doping. This surprisingly similar sensitivity suggests that the spin-stripe order is dependent on intertwining with superconducting correlations.