Effect of nonmagnetic impurities on stripes in high-Tc cuprates

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 root 18 x root 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. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.