A Unified Theory for the Cuprates, Iron-Based and Similar Superconducting Systems: Application for Spin and Charge Excitations in the Hole-Doped Cuprates
A unified theory for the cuprates and the iron-based superconductors is derived on the basis of common features in their electronic structures including quasi-two-dimensionality, and the large-U nature of the electron orbitals close to E_F (smaller-U hybridized orbitals reside at bonding and antibonding states away from E_F). Consequently, low-energy excitations are described in terms of auxiliary particles, representing combinations of atomic-like electron configurations, rather than electron-like quasiparticles. The introduction of a Lagrange Bose field is necessary to enable the treatments of these auxiliary particles as bosons or fermions. The condensation of the bosons results in static or dynamical inhomogeneities, and consequently in a commensurate or an incommensurate resonance mode. The dynamics of the fermions determines the charge transport, and their strong coupling to the Lagrange-field bosons results in pairing and superconductivity. The calculated resonance mode in hole-doped cuprates agrees with the experimental results, and is shown to be correlated with the pairing gap on the Fermi arcs.
We propose a unified description of cuprate and iron-based superconductivity. Consistency with magnetic structure inferred from neutron scattering implies significant constraints on the symmetry of the pairing gap for the iron-based superconductors. We find that this unification requires the orbital pairing formfactors for the iron arsenides to differ fundamentally from those for cuprates at the microscopic level.
The phase diagram for hole-doped cuprates is discussed. By examining some recent inelastic neutron scattering data obtained on hole-doped cuprates we conclude that the coherent gap in hole-doped cuprates has most likely the magnetic origin and scales with Tc, on average, as 2Delta/kTc = 5.4.
We compare the one-loop functional renormalization group results for the cuprates and the iron pnictides. Interestingly a coherent picture suggesting that antiferromagnetic correlation causes pairing for both materials emerges.
Within the t-t'-J model, the charge asymmetry in superconductivity of hole- and electron-doped cuprates is studied based on the kinetic energy driven superconducting mechanism. It is shown that superconductivity appears over a narrow range of doping in electron-doped cuprates, and the superconducting transition temperature displays the same kind of the doping controlled behavior that is observed in the hole-doped case. However, the maximum achievable superconducting transition temperature in the optimal doping in electron-doped cuprates is much lower than that of the hole-doped case due to the…
The tunneling spectra of the electron-doped cuprate Pr_2-xCe_xCuO4 as a function of doping and temperature is reported. We find that the superconducting gap, delta, shows a BCS-like temperature dependence even for extremely low carrier concentrations (studied here for the first time). Moreover, delta follows the doping dependence of Tc, in strong contrast with tunneling studies of hole-doped cuprates. From our results we conclude that there is a single superconducting energy scale in the electron-doped cuprates.
The symmetries of the order parameter (OP) responsible for pairing and the OP responsible for phase coherence in hole-doped cuprates are discussed. We analyze angle-resolved tunneling, ARPES, Raman scattering and torque measurements performed on hole-doped cuprates. We conclude that, most likely, the OP responsible for phase coherence has the d-wave symmetry whereas the OP responsible for pairing has an anisotropic s-wave symmetry.
Stripe fluctuations in La2NiO4.17 have been studied by 139La NMR using the field and temperature dependence of the linewidth and relaxation rates. In the formation process of the stripes the NMR line intensity is maximal below 230K, starts to diminish around 140K, disappears around 50K and recovers at 4K. These results are shown to be consistent with, but completely complementary to neutron measurements, and to be generic for oxygen doped nickelates and underdoped cuprates.
Within the t-t'-J model, the electron spectrum and quasiparticle dispersion in doped bilayer cuprates in the normal state are discussed by considering the bilayer interaction. It is shown that the bilayer interaction splits the electron spectrum of doped bilayer cuprates into the bonding and antibonding components around the $(π,0)$ point. The differentiation between the bonding and antibonding components is essential, which leads to two main flat bands around the $(π,0)$ point below the Fermi energy. In analogy to the doped single layer cuprates, the lowest energy states in doped bilayer cupr…
Within the t-t'-J model, the asymmetry of the electron spectrum and quasiparticle dispersion in hole-doped and electron-doped cuprates is discussed. It is shown that the quasiparticle dispersions of both hole-doped and electron-doped cuprates exhibit the flat band around the (π,0) point below the Fermi energy. The lowest energy states are located at the (π/2,π/2) point for the hole doping, while they appear at the (π,0) point in the electron-doped case due to the electron-hole asymmetry. Our results also show that the unusual behavior of the electron spectrum and quasiparticle dispersion is in…
We investigate the formation of charge domain walls in an electron-doped extended Hubbard model for the superconducting cuprates. Within an unrestricted Hartree-Fock approach, extended by the introduction of slave-bosons to obtain a more proper treatment of strong correlations, we demonstrate the occurrence of stripes in the (1,1) and (1,-1) directions having one doped electron per stripe site. The different filling, direction and width of these electron-doped stripes with respect to those obtained in the hole-doped systems have interesting observable consequences, which are discussed.
The iron pnictides and the cuprates represent two families of materials, where strong antiferromagnetic correlation drives three other distinct ordering tendencies: (1) superconducting pairing, (2) Fermi surface distortion, and (3) orbital current order. We propose that (1)-(3) and the antiferromagnetic correlation are the hallmarks of a class of strongly correlated materials to which the cuprates and pnictides belong. In this paper we present the results of the functional renormalization group studies to support the above claim. In addition, we show that as a function of the interlayer hoppin…
There is a clear discrepancy among the energy-gap values for different 90 K cuprates, inferred from tunneling measurements. By using the phase diagram for hole-doped cuprates we show that tunneling measurements performed on 90 K cuprates, simply, detect two different energy gaps: the pairing gap and the coherent gap, which are identical in conventional superconductors. We find that there are two reasons why tunneling measurements show in one cuprate exclusively the coherent gap while, in another cuprate, they show the pairing gap: (i) the number of CuO2 planes per unit cell in the cuprate, and…
We report neutron scattering studies on single crystals of the electron-doped (n-type) superconducting cuprate Nd2-xCexCuO4 (x=0.15) with Tc = 18 K and 25 K. Unlike the hole-doped (p-type) superconducting cuprates where incommensurate magnetic fluctuations commonly exist, the n-type cuprate shows commensurate magnetic fluctuations at the tetragonal (1/2 1/2 0) reciprocal points both in the superconducting and in the normal state. A spin gap opens up when the n-type cuprate becomes superconducting, as in the optimally doped p-type La2-xSrxCuO4. The gap energy, however, increases gradually up to…
We calculate the normal state Nernst signal in the cuprates resulting from a reconstruction of the Fermi surface due to spin density wave order. An order parameter consistent with the reconstruction of the Fermi surface detected in electron-doped materials is shown to sharply enhance the Nernst signal close to optimal doping. Within a semiclassical treatment, the obtained magnitude and position of the enhanced Nernst signal agrees with Nernst measurements in electron-doped cuprates.
A new electron-doped superconductor Li_x_Sr_2_CuO_2_Br_2_ with x = 0.15 has successfully been synthesized by an electrochemical Li-intercalation technique. The magnetic susceptibility shows superconductivity of bulk with the superconducting transition temperature Tc = 8 K. This compound is the first electron-doped superconducting cuprate with the K_2_NiF_4_ structure.
We present experimental data obtained by different techniques. Some of them are not easy to explain by any theoretical model presented in the literature. However, a MCS model of the superconductivity in hole-doped cuprates, proposed in our previous work, is capable to explain them. Thus, we present an evidence in favor of the MCS model.
Within the kinetic energy driven superconducting mechanism, the effect of the pressure on superconductivity in doped two-leg ladder cuprates is studied. It is shown that the superconducting transition temperature in doped two-leg ladder cuprate superconductors increases with increasing pressure in the underpressure regime, and reaches a maximum in the optimal pressure, then decreases in the overpressure regime. This domed shape of the pressure dependence of the superconducting transition temperature is similar to that of the pressure dependence of the longitudinal part of the superconducting g…
Within the framework of the kinetic energy driven d-wave superconductivity, the electronic structure of the electron doped cuprate superconductors is studied. It is shown that although there is an electron-hole asymmetry in the phase diagram, the electronic structure of the electron-doped cuprates in the superconducting-state is similar to that in the hole-doped case. With increasing the electron doping, the spectral weight in the $(π,0)$ point increases, while the position of the superconducting quasiparticle peak is shifted towards the Fermi energy. In analogy to the hole-doped case, the sup…
Using as a model the Hubbard Hamiltonian we determine various basic properties of electron-doped cuprate superconductors like ${Nd}_{2-x}{Ce}_{x}{CuO}_{4}$ and ${Pr}_{2-x}{Ce}_{x}{CuO}_{4}$ for a spin-fluctuation-induced pairing mechanism. Most importantly we find a narrow range of superconductivity and like for hole-doped cuprates $d_{x^{2}-y^{2}}$ - symmetry for the superconducting order parameter. The superconducting transition temperatures $T_{c}(x)$ for various electron doping concentrations $x$ are calculated to be much smaller than for hole-doped cuprates due to the different Fermi surf…
Within the t-J ladder model, superconductivity with a modified d-wave symmetry in doped two-leg ladder cuprates is investigated based on the kinetic energy driven superconducting mechanism. It is shown that the spin-liquid ground-state at the half-filling evolves into the superconducting ground-state upon doping. In analogy to the doping dependence of the superconducting transition temperature in the planar cuprate superconductors, the superconducting transition temperature in doped two-leg ladder cuprates increases with increasing doping in the underdoped regime, and reaches a maximum in the …
The doping and temperature dependent conductivity of electron-doped cuprates is analysed. The variation of kinetic energy with doping is shown to imply that the materials are approximately as strongly correlated as the hole-doped materials. The optical spectrum is fit to a quasiparticle scattering model; while the model fits the optical data well, gross inconsistencies with photoemission data are found, implying the presence of a large, strongly doping dependent Landau parameter.
Inelastic Neutron Scattering (INS) data in LSCO, YBCO and Bi2212 are discussed. In the literature, the INS spectra remain far from being comprehensively understood. We show that local (Q-integrated) susceptibility data and the energy dependence of the spin susceptibility at antiferromagnetic vector, Q = (p,p), can be interpreted by using the phase diagram for hole-doped cuprates. We analyze also the origin of the resonant peak which relates to the order parameter for long-range phase coherence in hole-doped cuprates. Thus, we present an interpretation of neutron data in LSCO, YBCO and Bi2212 p…
We amend ab initio strongly-correlated band structures by taking into account the band-tailing phenomenon in doped charge-transfer Mott-Hubbard insulators. We show that the photoemission from band tails accounts for sharp "quasi-particle" peaks, rapid loss of their intensities in some directions of the Brillouin zone ("Fermi-arcs") and high-energy "waterfall" anomalies as a consequence of matrix-element effects of disorder-localised states in the charge-transfer gap of doped cuprates.
Systematic analysis of the planar resistivity, Hall effect and cotangent of the Hall angle for the electron-doped cuprates reveals underlying Fermi-liquid behavior even deep in the antiferromagnetic part of the phase diagram. The transport scattering rate exhibits a quadratic temperature dependence, and is nearly independent of doping, compound and carrier type (electrons vs. holes), and hence universal. Our analysis moreover indicates that the material-specific resistivity upturn at low temperatures and low doping has the same origin in both electron- and hole-doped cuprates.
Recent quantum oscillation measurements on underdoped cuprates are shown to be consistent with the predictions of a mean field theory of the 1/8 magnetic antiphase stripe order proposed to occur in high-$T_c$ cuprates. In particular, for intermediate values of the stripe order parameter, the magneto-transport is found to be dominated by an electron pocket.
We study charge ordered d-wave resonating valence bond states (dRVB) in the doped cuprates, and estimate the energies of these states in a generalized $t-J $ model by using a renormalized mean field theory. The long range Coulomb potential tends to modulate the charge density in favor of the charge ordered RVB state. The possible relevance to the recently observed $4 \times 4$ checkerboard patterns in tunnelling conductance in high $T_c$ cuprates is discussed.
We present conductance-voltage (G-V) data for point contact junctions between a normal metal and the electron doped cuprate superconductor Pr{2-x}Ce{x}CuO4 (PCCO). We observe a zero bias conductance peak (ZBCP) for the under-doped composition of this cuprate (x=0.13) which is consistent with d-wave pairing symmetry. For optimally-doped (x=0.15) and over-doped (x=0.17) PCCO, we find that the G-V characteristics indicate the presence of an order parameter without nodes. We investigate this further by obtaining point contact spectroscopy data for different barrier strengths and as a function of m…
Recent experiments in underdoped hole-doped cuprates have shown the presence of two energy scales in the Raman spectrum in the superconducting state. This feature has a natural explanation in some models in which pseudogap and superconductivity compete. In electron-doped cuprates antiferromagnetic correlations are believed to survive in the superconducting state, and to produce a pseudogap above the critical temperature. Contrary to hole-doped systems, in electron-doped compounds only one energy scale appear since the pair breaking Raman intensity peaks in both B$_{1g}$ (antinodal) and B$_{2g}…
We report a tunneling study between Pr_2-xCe_xCuO_{4-delta} (PCCO) and Lead as a function of doping, temperature and magnetic field. The temperature dependence of the gap follows the BCS prediction. Our data fits a nonmonotonic d-wave order parameter for the whole doping range studied. From our data we are able to conclude that the electron-doped cuprate PCCO is a weak coupling, BCS, dirty superconductor.
Many important questions for high-$T_c$ cuprates are closely related to the insulating nature of parent compounds. While there has been intensive discussion on this issue, all arguments rely strongly on, or are closely related to, the correlation strength of the materials. Clear understanding has been seriously hampered by the absence of a direct measure of this interaction, traditionally denoted by $U$. Here, we report a first-principles estimation of $U$ for several different types of cuprates. The $U$ values clearly increase as a function of the inverse bond distance between apical oxygen a…
Superconductivity research is like running a marathon. Three decades after the discovery of high-Tc cuprates, there have been mass data generated from transport measurements, which bring fruitful information. In this review, we give a brief summary of the intriguing phenomena reported in electron-doped cuprates from the aspect of electrical transport as well as the complementary thermal transport. We attempt to sort out common features of the electron-doped family, e.g. the strange metal, negative magnetoresistance, multiple sign reversals of Hall in mixed state, abnormal Nernst signal, comple…
We study the quantum transition from an antiferromagnet to a superconductor in a model for electron- and hole-doped cuprates by means of a variational cluster perturbation theory approach. In both cases, our results suggest a tendency towards phase separation between a mixed antiferromagnetic-superconducting phase at low doping and a pure superconducting phase at larger doping. However, in the electron-doped case the energy scale for phase separation is an order of magnitude smaller than for hole doping. We argue that this can explain the different pseudogap and superconducting transition scal…
We investigate the electronic states in the antiferromagnetic (AF) phase of electron-doped cuprates by using numerically exact diagonalization technique for a t-t'-t''-J model. When AF correlation develops with decreasing temperature, a gaplike behavior emerges in the optical conductivity. Simultaneously, the coherent motion of carriers due to the same sublattice hoppings is enhanced. We propose that the phase is characterized as an AF state with small Fermi surface around the momentum k=(π,0) and (0,π). This is a remarkable contrast to the behavior of hole-doped cuprates.
High Tc superconductors show a rich variety of phases associated with their charge degrees of freedom. Valence charges can give rise to charge ordering or acoustic plasmons in these layered cuprate superconductors. While charge ordering has been observed for both hole- and electron-doped cuprates, acoustic plasmons have only been found in electron-doped materials. Here, we use resonant inelastic X-ray scattering (RIXS) to observe the presence of acoustic plasmons in two families of hole-doped cuprate superconductors [La2-xSrxCuO4 (LSCO) and Bi2Sr1.6La0.4CuO6+d (Bi2201)], crucially completing t…
The purpose of this paper is to discuss a phase diagram of hole-doped cuprates. Hole-doped cuprates have a very rich phase diagram as a function of doping. This is due to a charge inhomogeneity in CuO_2 planes: the charge distribution in CuO_2 planes is inhomogeneous both on a nanoscale and macroscale. Depending on doping level, the CuO_2 planes comprise at least four different types of clusters having a size of a few nanometers. Each type of clusters has its own features. As a consequence, the common phase diagram consists of, at least, seven different energy/temperature scales. As an example…
An antiferromagnetic (AF) spin fluctuation induced pairing model is proposed for the electron-doped cuprate superconductors. It suggests that, similar to the hole-doped side, the superconducting gap function is monotonic d_{x^2-y^2}-wave and explains why the observed gap function has a nonmonotonic d_{x^2-y^2}-wave behavior when an AF order is taken into account. Dynamical spin susceptibility is calculated and shown to be in good agreement with the experiment. This gives a strong support to the proposed model.
Pairing Correlations are studied numerically in the hole-doped spin-fermion model for cuprates. Simulations performed on up to 12x12 clusters provide robust indications of D-wave superconductivity away from half-filling. The pairing correlations are the strongest in the direction perpendicular to the dynamic stripe-like inhomogeneities that appear in the ground state at some densities. An optimal doping, where the correlations reach a maximum value, was observed at about 25% doping, in qualitative agreement with hight T_{c} cuprates' experiments. On the other hand, pairing correlations are sup…
We apply the spin-fermion model to study the normal state and pairing instability in electron-doped cuprates near the antiferromagnetic QCP. Peculiar frequency dependencies of the normal state properties are shown to emerge from the self-consistent equations on the fermionic and bosonic self-energies, and are in agreement with experimentally observed ones. We argue that the pairing instability is in the $d_{x^{2}-y^{2}}$ channel, as in hole-doped cuprates, but theoretical $T_{c}$ is much lower than in the hole-doped case. For the same hopping integrals and the interaction strength as in hole-d…
The electron-doped cuprates were studied by electronic Raman spectroscopy across the entire region of the superconducting (SC) phase diagram. We determined that the magnitude of the SC order parameter varies between 4.6 and 3.5 k_BT_c, consistent with weak coupling BCS theory. Using a ``Raman conductivity" sum rule, we found that doped carriers divide into coherent quasi-particles (QPs) and carriers that remain incoherent. The coherent QPs mainly reside in the vicinity of (pi/2a, pi/2a) regions of the Brillouin zone. The carriers doped beyond optimal doping remain incoherent. Only coherent QPs…
We report on the magnetic phase diagram of a hole-doped cuprate Ca$_{2-x}$Na$_{x}$CuO$_{2}$Cl$_{2}$, which is free from buckling of CuO$_2$ planes, determined by muon spin rotation and relaxation. It is characterized by a quasi-static spin glass-like phase over a range of sodium concentration ($0.05\leq x\leq 0.12$), which is held between long range antiferromagnetic (AF) phase ($x\leq 0.02$) and superconducting phase where the system is non-magnetic for $x\geq 0.15$. The obtained phase diagram qualitatively agrees well with that commonly found for hole-doped high-\tc cuprates, strongly sugges…
We report resistivity, Hall effect, Nernst effect, and magnetoresistance measurements on T'-phase La1.85Y0.15CuO (LYCO) films prepared by pulsed laser deposition under different oxygen conditions. Our results show that superconductivity in LYCO originates from an oxygen-doped Mott-like insulator and not from a weakly correlated, half-filled band metal as proposed previously.
We analyze high-resolution scanning tunneling spectra of the electron-doped cuprate Pr0.88LaCe0.12CuO4 (T_c = 24 K). We find that the spectral fine structure below 35 meV is consistent with strong coupling to a bosonic mode at 16 meV, in quantitative agreement with early tunneling spectra of Nd1.85Ce0.15CuO4. Since the energy of the bosonic mode is significantly higher than that (9.5-11 meV) of the magnetic resonance-like mode observed by inelastic neutron scattering, the coupling feature at 16 meV cannot arise from strong coupling to the magnetic mode. The present work thus demonstrates that …
Differentiation of electron doping and oxygen reduction in electron-doped cuprates
Institute for Solid State Physics, The University of Tokyo（东京大学固体离子体研究所）；Department of Engineering and Applied Sciences, Sophia University（上智大学理工学部）；Department of Applied Physics, Tohoku University（东北大学应用物理系）；UVSOR Synchrotron Facility, Institute for Molecular Science（分子科学研究所UVSOR同步辐射设施）
An understanding of the high-temperature copper oxide (cuprate) superconductors has eluded the physics community for over thirty years, and represents one of the greatest unsolved problems in condensed matter physics. Particularly enigmatic is the normal state from which superconductivity emerges, so much so that this phase has been dubbed a "strange metal." In this article, we will review recent research into this strange metallic state as realized in the electron-doped cuprates with a focus on their transport properties. The electron-doped compounds differ in several ways from their more tho…
In a recent NMR investigation of the iron-based superconductor (La0.87Ca0.13)FePO [Phys. Rev. Lett. 101, 077006 (2008)] Y. Nakai et al. reported an anomalous behavior of the nuclear spin-lattice relaxation of 31P nuclei in the superconducting state: The relaxation rate 1/T1 strongly depends on the measurement frequency and its T dependence does not show the typical decrease expected for the superconducting state. In this short note, we point out that these two observations bear similarity with the situation is some of the high Tc cuprates.
We study the emergence of a magnetic resonance in the superconducting state of the electron-doped cuprate superconductors. We show that the recently observed resonance peak in the electron-doped superconductor Pr$_{0.88}$LaCe$_{0.12}$CuO$_{4-δ}$ is consistent with an overdamped spin exciton located near the particle-hole continuum. We present predictions for the magnetic-field dependence of the resonance mode as well as its temperature evolution in those parts of the phase diagram where $d_{x^2-y^2}$-wave superconductivity may coexist with an antiferromagnetic spin-density wave.
In the hole-doped $d_{x^{2}-y^{2}}$-wave cuprate superconductor, due to the midgap surface state (MSS), a zero bias conductance peak (ZBCP) is widely observed in [110] interface point contact spectroscopy (PCS). However, ZBCP of this geometry is rarely observed in the electron-doped cuprates, even though their pairing symmetry is still likely the $d_{x^{2}-y^{2}}$-wave. We argue that this is due to the coexistence of antiferromagnetic (AF) and the superconducting (SC) orders. Generalizing the Blonder-Tinkham-Klapwijk (BTK) formula to include an AF coupling, it is shown explicitly that the MSS …
We examine the thermodynamic properties of the hole- and electron-doped cuprates by using the t-t'-t''-J model. We find that the chemical potential shows different doping dependence between the hole and electron dopings. Recent experimental data of the chemical potential shift are reproduced except for lightly underdoped region in the hole doping where stripe and/or charge inhomogeneity are expected to be important. The entropy is also calculated as a function of the carrier concentration. It is found that the entropy of the electron-doped system is smaller than that of the hole-doped systems.…
The formation of domains comprising alternating 'hole rich' and 'hole poor' ladders recently observed by Scanning Tunneling Microscopy by Kohsaka et al., on lightly hole doped cuprates, is interpreted in terms of an attractive mechanism which favors the presence of doped holes on Cu sites located each on one side of an oxygen atom. This mechanism leads to a geometrical pattern of alternating hole-rich and hole-poor ladders with a periodicity equal to 4 times the lattice spacing in the CuO plane, as observed experimentally. To cite this article: G. Deutscher, P.-G. de Gennes, C. R. Physique 8 (…
The "states-non-conserving" fermion density of states (DOS), deduced from the specific heat of hole-doped cuprates, could arise from a Kondo or heavy fermion-like DOS being suppressed by anti-ferromagnetic spin fluctuations. The large Fermi surface predicted by band theory and observed experimentally, is still expected for zero pseudogap, but with an effective mass corresponding to a Kondo temperature ~ 800 K. A finite pseudogap could divide it into Fermi arcs. Theoretical results for the asymmetric Anderson model can account for the experimental Wilson ratio.
The disclosure of spinon superconductivity and superconductivity mediated by spin-waves in hole-doped Bi2212 cuprate raises the question about the origin of the superconductivity in other cuprates and specially in an electron-doped NCCO cuprate.
A central question in the high temperature cuprate superconductors is the fate of the parent Mott insulator upon charge doping. Here we use scanning tunneling microscopy to investigate the local electronic structure of lightly doped cuprate in the antiferromagnetic insulating regime. We show that the doped charge induces a spectral weight transfer from the high energy Hubbard bands to the low energy in-gap states. With increasing doping, a V-shaped density of state suppression occurs at the Fermi level, which is accompanied by the emergence of checkerboard charge order. The new STM perspective…
We use angle-resolved photoemission to unravel the quasiparticle decoherence process in the high-$T_c$ cuprates. The coherent band is highly renormalized, and the incoherent part manifests itself as a nearly vertical ``dive'' in the $E$-$k$ intensity plot that approaches the bare band bottom. We find that the coherence-incoherence crossover energies in the hole- and electron-doped cuprates are quite different, but scale to their corresponding bare bandwidth. This rules out antiferromagnetic fluctuations as the main source for decoherence. We also observe the coherent band bottom at the zone ce…
Within the kinetic energy driven superconducting mechanism, the interplay between the single particle coherence and superconducting instability in doped cuprates is studied. The superconducting transition temperature increases with increasing doping in the underdoped regime, and reaches a maximum in the optimal doping, then decreases in the overdoped regime, however, the values of this superconducting transition temperature in the whole superconducting range are suppressed to low temperature due to the single particle coherence. Within this superconducting mechanism, we calculate the dynamical…
The author reports on new high-fidelity simulations of charge carriers in the high-T$_c$ cuprate materials using quantum Monte Carlo techniques applied to the first principles Hamiltonian. With this high accuracy technique, the doped ground state is found to be a spin polaron, in which charge is localized through a strong interaction with the spin. This spin polaron has calculated properties largely similar to the phenomenology of the cuprates, and may be the object which forms the Fermi surface and charge inhomogeneity in these materials. The spin polaron has some unique features that should …
The real-space localized hole pair is constructed in the Cu-O plane of the hole-doped cuprate superconductors. We prove analytically and numerically that two electrons, due to the nearest-neighbor Coulomb repulsive confinement effect, can be in pairing inside a single plaquette with the d-wave symmetry. The scenario supports the `no glue' pairing picture for the cuprates. Based on the scenarios, the physical origin of the Fermi pocket (or Fermi arc) and the two pseudogap behavior are provided. Our framework leads directly to a unified linear relationship between the pseudogap temperature T* an…
Measurements of the thermal Hall conductivity in hole-doped cuprates have shown that phonons acquire chirality in a magnetic field, both in the pseudogap phase and in the Mott insulator state. The microscopic mechanism at play is still unclear. A number of theoretical proposals are being considered, including skew scattering of phonons by various defects, the coupling of phonons to spins, and a state of loop-current order with the appropriate symmetries, but more experimental information is required to constrain theoretical scenarios. Here we present our study of the thermal Hall conductivity …
For electron-doped cuprates, the strong suppression of antiferromagnetic spin correlation by efficient reduction annealing by the "protect-annealing" method leads to superconductivity not only with lower Ce concentrations but also with higher transition temperatures. To reveal the nature of this superconducting state, we have performed angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy measurements of protect-annealed electron-doped superconductors Pr$_{1.3-x}$La$_{0.7}$Ce$_{x}$CuO$_{4}$ and directly investigated the superconducting gap. The gap was found to be consistent with $d$-wave symmetry, sugges…
Using a phenomenological lattice model of coupled spin and charge modes, we determine the spin susceptibility in the presence of fluctuating stripe charge order. We assume the charge fluctuations to be slow compared to those of the spins, and combine Monte Carlo simulations for the charge order parameter with exact diagonalization of the spin sector. Our calculations unify the spin dynamics of both static and fluctuating stripe phases and support the notion of a universal spin excitation spectrum in doped cuprate superconductors.
Irrespective of the class they belong to, all the hole doped high-Tc cuprate superconductors show an anti-correlation between the superconducting transition temperature and the characteristic pseudogap energy in the underdoped region. The doping dependent pseudogap in the quasiparticle spectral density is believed to remove low-energy electronic states and thereby reduce the superconducting condensate. Impurities within the CuO2 plane, on the other hand, break Cooper pairs in the unitarity limit and diminish superfluid density. Both pseudogap in pure cuprates and impurity scattering in disorde…
