High-energy magnetic excitations from dynamic stripes in LBCO (x=1/8)

We use inelastic neutron scattering to study the temperature dependence of magnetic excitations (for energies up to 100 meV) in the cuprate La$_{1.875}$Ba$_{0.125}$CuO$_4$. This compound exhibits stripe order below a temperature of ~50 K; previous measurements have shown that the magnetic excitations of the stripe-ordered phase have an hour-glass-like dispersion, with a saddle point at ~50 meV. Here we compare measurements in the disordered phase taken at 65 and 300 K. At energies on the scale of $k_{\rm B}T$, there is substantial momentum-broadening of the signal, and the low-energy incommensurate features can no longer be resolved at 300 K. In contrast, there is remarkably little change in the scattered signal for energies greater than $k_{\rm B}T$. In fact, the momentum-integrated dynamic susceptibility is almost constant with temperature. We suggest that the continuity of higher-energy magnetic excitations is strong evidence for dynamic stripes in the high-temperature, disordered phase. We reconsider the nature of the magnetic dispersion, and we discuss the correspondences between the thermal evolution of magnetic stripe correlations with other electronic properties of the cuprates.