Quasiparticle Nernst Effect in Stripe-Ordered Cuprates

Abstract

Experiments on underdoped cuprate superconductors suggest an intricate relation between the normal-state Nernst effect and stripe order: The Nernst signal appears enhanced near (\frac{1}{8}) hole doping and its onset temperature scales with the stripe-ordering temperature over some range of doping. Here, we employ a phenomenological quasiparticle model to calculate the normal state Nernst signal in the presence of stripe order. We find that Fermi pockets caused by translational symmetry breaking lead to a strongly enhanced Nernst signal with a sign depending on the modulation period of the ordered state and other details of the Fermi surface. This implies differences between antiferromagnetic and charge-only stripes We compare our findings with recent data from (La_{1.6-x}Nd_{0.4}Sr_xCuO_4) and (YBa_2Cu_3O_y).