Cu NMR study of lightly doped La₂-ₗSrₗCuO₄

We present a single crystal Cu NMR study of the cuprate superconductor La₂-ₗSrₗCuO₄ with hole doping levels between x=2\% and 8\%. Measurements with short spin echo times enable us to systematically study the local properties of the electronic spin system in the region of the phase diagram where the material evolves from the insulating antiferromagnetic parent phase to the superconducting state. We find evidence for qualitative changes as the Sr concentration increases through x=5\% in both NMR spectra and relaxation times, which we interpret as signatures of a low-temperature transition from a state with disconnected metallic islands to a granular metal with tunneling between the grains. These results provide microscopic insight into the physics of a doped charge-transfer insulator in the presence of quenched substitutional disorder, indicate that a connectivity transition occurs, and demonstrate that complex nanoscale electronic phase separation is ubiquitous in LSCO around the doping level where superconductivity first appears in the phase diagram.