Electric and Magnetic Properties of La2CuO4

Abstract
Electric and magnetic properties are investigated for La2CuO4. The properties of this material are quite sensitive to the stoichiometry of the compounds, such as oxygen deficiency. The most stoichiometric sample is semiconducting at low temperatures, exhibiting a marked increase in resistivity with ρ(10 K)/ρ(100 K)≃104. The magnetic susceptibility is weakly paramagnetic (∼10-7 emu/g) over a wide temperature range and shows a cusp at 250 K. The cusp indicates an electronic instability, most probably the formation of a spin-density-wave, taking place in this material.