Complex phase diagram of doped XXZ ladder: Localization and pairing

Abstract

How the ground-state nature can be dramatically changed by the distinct underlying spin correlation is a central issue of doped Mott insulators. The two-leg XXZ ladder provides a prototypical spin background, which can be tuned from a long-range Néel order to a short-range spin liquid via the superexchange anisotropy, giving rise to a complex phase diagram at finite doping. By density matrix renormalization group method, we show that although the charge is always self-localized in the Néel ordered phase, a second insulating phase emerges in which the doped holes become paired but remain localized while the transverse spin-spin correlation reduces to short-ranged one to make the Néel order classical. Only when the Néel order totally disappears by further reducing anisotropy does the pairing become truly coherent as characterized by a Luther-Emery state. In sharp contrast, the pairing is totally absent in the in-plane ferromagnetic XXZ regime, where a direct transition from the charge self-localization in the Néel ordered phase to a Fermi-gas-like state in the spin liquid phase is found. A consistent physical picture is briefly discussed.