Effect of nonmagnetic impurities on stripes in high-Tc cuprates

Abstract We perform the numerically exact diagonalization study of the t – J model with nonmagnetic impurities to clarify the relation between Zn impurities and the stripes. By examining the hole–hole correlation function for a two-hole 18 × 18 cluster with a single impurity, we find that the impurity has a tendency to stabilize vertical charge stripes. This tendency is caused by the gain of the kinetic energy of holes moving along the stripes that are formed avoiding the impurity.