Recent experiments strongly suggest that a Fermi surface reconstruction and multiple Fermi pockets are important common features of the underdoped high-temperature cuprate superconductors. A related theoretical work [Phys. Rev. B 79, 134512 (2009)] has demonstrated that a number of hallmark phenomena observed in the underdoped cuprates appear naturally in the scenario of a paired electron pocket co-existing with unpaired hole pockets. We propose Gutzwiller-projected wave-functions to describe this two-fluid state as well as two competing states in its vicinity. It is argued that a pseudogap state constructed from these wave-functions may be selected by energetics at finite temperatures due to spin fluctuations.
One of the most prominent problems in high temperature superconductivity is the nature of the pseudogap phase in underdoped regimes; particularly important is the role of phase fluctuations. The Gutzwiller-projected BCS Hamiltonian is a useful model for high temperature superconductivity due to an exact mapping to the Heisenberg model at half filling and generally a very close connection to the t-J model at moderate doping. We develop the dynamical mean field theory for the d-wave BCS Hamiltonian with on-site repulsive interaction, $U$, physically imposing the partial Gutzwiller projection. Fo…
A mean field SDW analysis of pseudogap in the underdoped cuprates is proposed on the basis of the $t-t^{\prime}-U$ Hubbard model. The prediction of our theory is consistent with the experiment quite well within the uncertainty of the present experimental measurement. Therefore we argue that the pseudogap phenomenon in the underdoped cuprates can be well explained within the mean field approximation.
I review some of the experimental evidence and theoretical arguments that suggest that pseudogap matter is a new form of matter that coexists with coherent electron matter in the normal state and with superconducting matter below the superconducting transition temperature. I describe work in progress on a phenomenological two-fluid description of the evolution of pseudogap behavior that offers an explanation for the unexpectedly simple scaling behavior for the uniform magnetic susceptibility found in the underdoped cuprates and use this to propose a physical picture of the underdoped cuprates …
We propose that an extension of the exciton concept to doped Mott insulators offers a fruitful insight into challenging issues of the copper oxide superconductors. In our extension, new fermionic excitations called cofermions emerge in conjunction to generalized excitons. The cofermions hybridize with conventional quasiparticles. Then a hybridization gap opens, and is identified as the pseudogap observed in the underdoped cuprates. The resultant Fermi-surface reconstruction naturally explains a number of unusual properties of the underdoped cuprates, such as the Fermi arc and/or pocket formati…
We investigate the microscopic origin of the pseudogap in the weakly doped 2D Hubbard model using Quantum Monte Carlo within the dynamical cluster approximation. We compare our results with proposed scenarios for the pseudogap. All our numerical evidence is in favor of spin-charge separation as described in the resonating valence bond picture as the cause of the pseudogap behavior. Scenarios of "preformed pairs", the coupling of quasiparticles to antiferromagnetic spin-fluctuations and stripes are inconsistent with our results.
In this paper we show that local spin-singlet amplitude with d-wave symmetry can be induced by short-range spin correlations even in the absence of pairing interactions. In the present scenario for the pseudogap, the normal state pseudogap is caused by the induced local spin-singlet amplitude due to short-range spin correlations, which compete in the low energy sector with superconducting correlations to make $T_{c}$ go to zero near half-filling.
High-temperature superconductivity in iron-arsenic materials (pnictides) near an antiferromagnetic phase raises the possibility of spin-fluctuation-mediated pairing. However, the interplay between antiferromagnetic fluctuations and superconductivity remains unclear in the underdoped regime, which is closer to the antiferromagnetic phase. Here we report that the superconducting gap of the underdoped pnictides scales linearly with the transition temperature, and that a distinct pseudogap coexisting with the SC gap develops on underdoping. This pseudogap occurs on Fermi surface sheets connected b…
Recent angle resolved photoemission \cite{yang-nature-08} and scanning tunneling microscopy \cite{kohsaka-nature-08} measurements on underdoped cuprates have yielded new spectroscopic information on quasiparticles in the pseudogap phase. New features of the normal state such as particle-hole asymmetry, maxima in the energy dispersion and accompanying drops in the spectral weight of quasiparticles agree with the ansatz of Yang \textit{et al.} for the single particle propagator in the pseudogap phase. The coherent quasiparticle dispersion and reduced asymmetry in the tunneling density of states …
Considering a possibility that the pseudogap state in the underdoped high-$T_{c}$ superconductors is not due to a superconducting correlation, we study the tunneling spectroscopy below $T_{c}$ based on the phenomenological models of the pseudogap state. Specifically we consider two cases: (1) the pseudogap is a simple suppression of the density of states with an unknown origin; (2) the pseudogap state is due to an antiferromagnetic correlation. For both cases we calculate $dI/dV$ using the BTK theory. The results are discussed in comparison with experiments.
We show that the unusual observations of a pseudogap in the normal state of underdoped Bi_2Sr_2CaCu_2O_8+delta (BiSCO) using angle resolved photoemission spectroscopy (ARPES) is consistent with a new band structure for the cuprate superconductors in which the x2-y2 and z2 bands are seen to cross at the Fermi level. Limitations in the experimental method prevent the narrow 3D z2 band from being fully resolved, leading instead to a broad background with "stepfunction" character. As a consequence, the Fermi surface is mis-assigned and a pseudogap of approximately d-wave symmetry develops.
We study the doping evolution of the electronic structure in the pseudogap state of high-Tc cuprate superconductors, by means of a cluster extension of the dynamical mean-field theory applied to the two-dimensional Hubbard model. The calculated single-particle excitation spectra in the strongly underdoped regime show a marked electron-hole asymmetry and reveal a "s-wave" pseudogap, which display a finite amplitude in all the directions in the momentum space but not always at the Fermi level: The energy location of the gap strongly depends on momentum, and in particular in the nodal region, it …
The Josephson coupling between optimally cuprate superconductors separated by a spacer with a finite energy cooperon excitation which contributes to the Josephson coupling strength, is examined. For an underdoped cuprate barrier in its normal state, the YRZ model gives a good description of the temperature dependent enhanced Josephson coupling. A detailed examination of origin of the enhancement shows a significant contribution from the cooperon excitation which is comparable to that from nodal quasiparticles.
Conductivity due to superconducting fluctuations studied in optimally doped YBa2Cu3O7-d films displays a stronger decay law in temperature than explainable by theory. A formula is proposed, which fits the data very well with two superconductive parameters, Tc and the coherence length ksi_c0, and an energy scale Delta*. This is also valid in underdoped materials and enables to describe the conductivity up to 300 K with a single-particle excitations channel in parallel with a channel whose contribution is controlled by ksi_c0, Tc and Delta*. This allows to address the nature of the pseudogap in …
We consider a model of the pseudogap specifically designed to describe the underdoped cuprates and which exhibits particle-hole asymmetry. The presence of electron pockets, besides the usual hole pockets, leads to the appearance of new vectors beyond the usual so-called octet model in the joint density of states (JDOS), which underlies the analysis of Fourier-transform scanning tunneling spectroscopy (FT-STS) data. These new vectors are associated with distinct patterns of large amplitude in the JDOS and are expected to occur primarily at positive bias. Likewise a pseudogap Dirac point occurs …
Within the t-J model, the charge dynamics of copper oxide materials in the underdoped regime is studied based on the fermion-spin theory. It is shown that both in-plane charge dynamics and c-axis charge dynamics are mainly governed by the scattering from the in-plane fluctuation, which would be suppressed when the holon pseudogap opens at low temperatures, leading to the temperature linear to the nonlinear range in the in-plane resistivity and crossovers to the semiconducting-like range in the c-axis resistivity.
Information on the nature of the dominant inelastic processes operative in correlated metallic systems can be obtained from an analysis of their AC optical response. An electron-boson spectral density can usefully be extracted. This density is closely related to the optical scattering rate. However, in the underdoped region of the high Tc cuprate phase diagram a new energy scale (the pseudogap) emerges, which alters the optical scattering and needs to be taken into account in any fit to data. This can influence the shape and strength of the recovered boson spectral function. Including a pseudo…
We investigate the upper critical field in a stripe--phase and in the presence of a phenomenological pseudogap. Our results indicate that the formation of stripes affects the Landau orbits and results in an enhancement of $H_{c2}$. On the other hand, phenomenologically introduced pseudogap leads to a reduction of the upper critical field. This effect is of particular importance when the magnitude of the gap is of the order of the superconducting transition temperature. We have found that a suppression of the upper critical field takes place also for the gap that originates from the charge--den…
We report on a direct test of pairing fluctuations in the pseudogap regime of underdoped superconducting cuprates using a Josephson junction. In this experiment, the coupling between a rigid superconducting pair field and pairing fluctuations produces a strong specific signature in the current-voltage characteristics. Our results show that fluctuations survive only close to Tc (T-Tc<15K) and therefore cannot be responsible for the opening of the pseudogap at high temperature.
The resonating valence bond spin liquid model for the underdoped cuprates has as an essential element, the emergence of a pseudogap. This new energy scale introduces asymmetry in the quasiparticle density of states because it is associated with the antiferromagnetic Brillouin zone. By contrast, superconductivity develops on the Fermi surface and this largely restores the particle-hole symmetry for energies below the superconducting energy gap scale. In the highly underdoped regime, these two scales can be separately identified in the density of states and also partial density of states for eac…
In underdoped YBa_2Cu_3O_x (YBCO) with x = 6.63, the opening of the pseudogap at T^* ~ 160 K has a strong effect on the Hall angle tan(theta). While the Hall response is significantly reduced, the diagonal current is relatively unaffected. The Hall conductivity suppression continues deep into the flux-flow state (from T_c to 40 K), as an anomalous suppression of the vortex Hall current.
The phenomenological Green's function developed in the works of Yang, Rice and Zhang has been very successful in understanding many of the anomalous superconducting properties of the deeply underdoped cuprates. It is based on considerations of the resonating valence bond spin liquid approximation and is designed to describe the underdoped regime of the cuprates. Here we emphasize the region of doping, $x$, just below the quantum critical point at which the pseudogap develops. In addition to Luttinger hole pockets centered around the nodal direction, there are electron pockets near the antinode…
Several models of the electronic spectrum in the pseudogap state of underdoped cuprates have been proposed to explain ARPES and STM measurements, which reveal only truncated Fermi pockets instead of a full metallic Fermi surface. We consider the transport properties expected of four physically distinct models, and calculate the thermal and electrical conductivity of the electronic quasiparticles. By proposing transport currents that reflect the close correspondence between quasiparticles on the Fermi pockets in the pseudogap and those near nodes in the superconducting state, we show that measu…
The Fermi surface in underdoped cuprates is reconstructed by the charge density wave (CDW) order in the pseudogap phase. Theoretical proposals can be divided into two classes: one assumes the underlying Fermi surface without CDW as a conventional large surface; the other assumes small hole-like Fermi pockets. In both scenarios, we theoretically study the quantum oscillation and find three evenly spaced peaks in the oscillation spectra. The central dominant peak is induced by the CDW order. Its effective mass is strongly enhanced as the CDW vanishes in agreement with experiments. But the two sc…
Central issues in the electronic structure of underdoped cuprate superconductors are to clarify the shape of the Fermi surfaces and the origin of the pseudogap. On the basis of the model proposed by Kamimura and Suwa, which bears important features originating from the interplay of Jahn-Teller physics and Mott physics, the feature of Fermi surfaces in underdoped cuprates is the presence of Fermi pockets constructed from doped holes under the coexistence of a metallic state and a local antiferromagnetic order. Below $T_{\rm c}$, the holes on Fermi pockets form Cooper pairs with d-wave symmetry …
We show that a simple 2D electron system on a square lattice with hoping between more than nearest neighbors exhibits in the presence of electron spin exchange interaction properties strikingly similar to those observed in the underdoped cuprates It is a normal state pseudogap, its behaviour with doping and T, a form of the spectrum around (0,π) etc. The motor is the electronic topological transition which due to two-dimensionality gets new features with respect to well-studied 3D case.
Measurements of the angular dependence of conductance spectra in the a-b plane of underdoped YBCO junctions are reported. At zero magnetic field the superconducting gap shows a |d+is|-like symmetry. Application of a magnetic field strongly suppresses this gap leaving only the pseudogap feature which also shows a |d+is|-like angular dependence. We thus observe the same symmetry for the superconducting gap and the pseudogap characterizing the YBCO electrodes near the interface with the barrier. An H_{c2} value of about 5T of the secondary (is) order parameter can also be deduced from our results…
By measuring the low temperature specific heat, the low energy quasi-particle excitation has been derived and analyzed in systematically doped La$_{2-x}$Sr$_{x}$CuO$_{4}$ single crystals. The Volovik's relation predicted for a d-wave superconductor has been well demonstrated in wide doping regime, showing a robust evidence for the d-wave pairing symmetry. Furthermore the nodal gap slope $v_Δ$ of the superconducting gap is derived and is found to follow the same doping dependence of the pseudogap obtained from ARPES and tunnelling measurement. This strongly suggests a close relationship between…
We propose a hybridization phenomenology to describe the pseudogap state of the underdoped cuprates. We show how a momentum independent pseudogap opens asymmetrically from the Fermi-surface but symmetric to the zeroes of the hybridized bonding dispersion, which results in false d-wave characteristics of the pseudogap at the Fermi level. By comparing against a d-wave form factor we illustrate the difficulty in identifying a momentum independent order in momentum averaged quantities such as the electronic Raman response. We identify a suppression in the single-particle density of states which pr…
Through the measurements of magnetic field dependence of specific heat in $La_{2-x}Sr_xCuO_4$ in zero temperature limit, we find that the nodal slope $v_Δ$ of the superconducting gap has a very similar doping dependence of the pseudogap temperature $T^*$ or value $Δ_p$. Meanwhile the maximum quasiparticle gap derived from $v_Δ$ is quite close to $T^*$. Both indicate a close relationship between the pseudogap and superconductivity. It is also found that $T_c \approx βv_Δγ_n(0)$, where $γ_n(0)$ is the extracted zero temperature value of the normal state specific heat coefficient which is proport…
It has become clear in the past several years that the cuprates show many unusual properties, both in the normal and superconducting states, especially in the underdoped region. In particular, gap-like behavior is observed in magnetic properties, c-axis conductivity and photoemission, whereas in-plane transport properties are only slightly affected by the pseudogap. I shall argue that these experimental evidences must be viewed in the context of the physics of a doped Mott insulator and that they support the notion of spin charge separation. I shall review recent theoretical developments, conc…
For orthorhombic superconductors we define thermodynamic anisotropy $N \equiv d T_c/d ε_{22} - dT_c/d ε_{11}$ as the difference in how superconducting $T_c$ varies with strains $ε_{ii}$, $i=(1, 2)$, along the in-plane directions. We study the hole doping ($p$) dependence of $N$ on detwinned single crystals of underdoped YBa$_2$Cu$_3$O$_y$ (YBCO) using ultrasound technique. While the structural orthorhombicity of YBCO reduces monotonically with decreasing doping over $0.065 <p<0.16$, we find that the thermodynamic anisotropy shows an intriguing enhancement at intermediate doping level, which is…
We calculate the diffusion thermoelectric power of high-Tc cuprates using the resonating-valence-bond spin-liquid model developed by Yang, Rice and Zhang (YRZ). In this model, reconstruction of the energy-momentum dispersion results in a pseudogap in the density of states that is heavily asymmetric about the Fermi level. The subsequent asymmetry in the spectral conductivity is found to account for the large magnitude and temperature dependence of the thermopower observed in underdoped cuprates. In addition we find evidence in experimental data for electron pockets in the Fermi surface, arising…
An understanding of the missing antinodal electronic excitations in the pseudogap state is essential for uncovering the physics of the underdoped cuprate high temperature superconductors. The majority of high temperature experiments performed thus far, however, have been unable to discern whether the antinodal states are rendered unobservable due to their damping, or whether they vanish due to their gapping. Here we distinguish between these two scenarios by using quantum oscillations to examine whether the small Fermi surface pocket, found to occupy only 2% of the Brillouin zone in the underd…
Recent optical measurements of deeply underdoped cuprates have revealed that a coherent Drude response persists well below the end of the superconducting dome. In addition, no large increase in optical effective mass has been observed, even at dopings as low as 1%. We show that this behavior is consistent with the resonating valence bond spin-liquid model proposed by Yang, Rice, and Zhang. In this model, the overall reduction in optical conductivity in the approach to the Mott insulating state is caused not by an increase in effective mass, but by a Gutzwiller factor, which describes decreased…
The penetration depth is calculated over the entire doping range of the cuprate phase diagram with emphasis on the underdoped regime. Pseudogap formation on approaching the Mott transition, for doping below a quantum critical point, is described within a model based on the resonating valence bond spin liquid which provides an ansatz for the coherent piece of the Green's function. Fermi surface reconstruction, which is an essential element of the model, has a strong effect on the superfluid density at T=0 producing a sharp drop in magnitude, but does not change the slope of the linear low tempe…
We calculate the c-axis infrared conductivity $σ_c(ω)$ in underdoped cuprate superconductors for spinfluctuation exchange scattering within the CuO$_2$-planes including a phenomenological d-wave pseudogap of amplitude $E_g$. For temperatures decreasing below a temperature $T^* \sim E_g/2$, a gap for $ω< 2E_g$ develops in $σ_c(ω)$ in the incoherent (diffuse) transmission limit. The resistivity shows 'semiconducting' behavior, i.e. it increases for low temperatures above the constant behavior for $E_g=0$. We find that the pseudogap structure in the in-plane optical conductivity is about twice as…
We argue that incoherent pair tunneling in a cuprate superconductor junction with an optimally doped superconducting and an underdoped normal lead can be used to detect the presence of pairing correlations in the pseudogap phase of the underdoped lead. We estimate that the junction characteristics most suitable for studying the pair tunneling current are close to recently manufactured cuprate tunneling devices.
We report the observation of a pseudogap in the \emph{ab}-plane optical conductivity of underdoped Ba$_{1-x}$K$_{x}$Fe$_{2}$As$_{2}$ ($x = 0.2$ and 0.12) single crystals. Both samples show prominent gaps opened by a spin density wave (SDW) order and superconductivity at the transition temperatures $T_{\it SDW}$ and $T_c$, respectively. In addition, we observe an evident pseudogap below $T^{\ast} \sim$ 75 K, a temperature much lower than $T_{\it SDW}$ but much higher than $T_{c}$. A spectral weight analysis shows that the pseudogap is closely connected to the superconducting gap, indicating the…
I discuss here some well established experimental facts which have been shown to be generic of the pseudogap in underdoped cuprates. Some recent developments on Cellular Dynamic Mean Field Theories of the doped Hubbard model on a square lattice are nowadays allowing one to compute physical properties and k resolved single particle spectra. At high temperatures, recent results present qualitative features which perfectly fit the experimental observations done for more than two decades on the pseudogap in the cuprates. Most various broken symmetry states detected recently at lower temperatures t…
We reconsider transport experiments in strongly anisotropic superconducting cuprates and we find that universal Aslamazov-Larkin (AL) paraconductivity in two dimensions is surprisingly robust even in the underdoped regime below the pseudogap crossover temperature T^*. We also establish that the underlying normal state resistivity in the pseudogap phase is (almost) linear in temperature, with all the deviations being quantitatively accounted by AL paraconductivity. The disappearence of paraconductivity is governed by the disappearence of gaussian pair fluctuations at an energy scale related to …
Here the Origin of the pseudogap in HTSC is attributed to the modulated antiferromagnetic (AFM) phase, whose preliminary version has been sketched recently by the present author [1](arXiv:0901.3896v2 (cond.-mat.sup-con)). Starting from the t-J Hamiltonian, I show that the formal failure of the perturbation theory leads to a transformation to the pseudogap phase. This phase is characterized by the aggregation of the holes into rows and columns, which in turn results in two internal fields. The first is the modulated AFM field, whose main evidence comes from Neutron scattering experiments. The s…
In-plane Nernst signal and resistivity have been measured for three $La_{2-x}Sr_xCuO_4$ single crystals (x=0.09, 0.11 and 0.145) with the magnetic field parallel to c-axis. A quadratic temperature dependence of resistivity, i.e., $ρ=ρ_0+aT^2$ is observed below a certain temperature $T_R$. It is found that the upper boundary of the Nernst signal $T_n$ coincides with $T_R$, which points to an inherent relation between the anomalous Nernst signal and the nodal quasiparticle transport in the pseudogap region. Finally a phase diagram together with the pseudogap temperature $T^*$ is presented, which…
The real part of the in-plane optical self-energy data in underdoped Bi$_{2}$Sr$_{2}$CaCu$_{2}$O$_{8+δ}$ (Bi-2212) and ortho II YBa$_{2}$Cu$_{3}$O$_{6.5}$ contains new and important information on the pseudogap. Using a theoretical model approach we find that the density of state lost below the pseudogap $Δ_{pg}$ is accompanied with a pileup just above this energy. The pileup along with a sharp mode in the bosonic spectral function leads to an unusually rapid increase in the optical scattering rate and a characteristically sloped peak in the real part of the optical self-energy. These features…
We analyze fermionic spectral function in the spin-density-wave (SDW) phase of quasi-2D cuprates at small but finite T. We use a non-perturbative approach and sum up infinite series of thermal self-energy terms, keeping at each order nearly-divergent (T/J) |log epsilon| terms, where epsilon is a deviation from a pure two-dimensionality, and neglecting regular T/J corrections. We show that, as SDW order decreases, the spectral function in the antinodal region acquires peak/hump structure: the coherent peak position scales with SDW order parameter, while the incoherent hump remains roughly at th…
For underdoped cuprate HTSC within the framework of the two component model of charge carries (holes and Zhang-Rice polarons) it is considered two near degenerate states of hole molecular orbitals in copper-oxygen plane. These are the state of hole molecular orbitals around one-site Zhang-Rice polarons, and another state is two-site hole molecular orbitals around the two-site oxygen cluster of two nearest Jahn-Teller copper ions with antiferromagnetic ordering spins and with common oxygen ion. Taking into account that the vibronic mixing of these near-degenerate electronic states leads to the …
The magnetic spectrum at high-energies in heavily underdoped YBa$_{2}$Cu$_{3}$O$_{6.35}$ (T$_{c}$=18 K) has been determined throughout the Brillouin zone. At low-energy the scattering forms a cone of spin excitations emanating from the antiferromagnetic (0.5, 0.5) wave vector with an acoustic velocity similar to that of insulating cuprates. At high energy transfers, below the maximum energy of 270 meV at (0.5, 0), we observe zone boundary dispersion much larger and spectral weight loss more extensive than in insulating antiferromagnets. Moreover we report phenomena not found in insulators, an …
We report on an exact solution of the nearly antiferromagnetic Fermi liquid spin fermion model in the limit πT << ω_{sf}, which demonstrates that the broad high energy features found in ARPES measurements of the spectral density of the underdoped cuprate superconductors are determined by strong antiferromagnetic (AF) correlations and precursor effects of an SDW state. We show that the onset temperature, T^{cr}, of weak pseudo-gap (pseudoscaling) behavior is determined by the strength, ξ, of the AF correlations, and obtain the generic changes in low frequency magnetic behavior seen in NMR exper…
We propose a possible scenario for the new metallic conductivity of underdoped and optimally doped cuprates. Charge carriers are assumed to be large polarons which form a Fermi-liquid and Cooper-like pairs below a crossover tempurature $T^{\ast}$. We use the Boltzmann equation to calculate the conductivity of self-trapped carriers and the resistivity $ρ$ as a function of temperature and doping for different cuprates. We show that various anomalies in $ρ(T)$ below $T^{\ast}$ are caused by the competing Fermi-liquid and BCS-like precursor pairing effects. Our results for $ρ$ fit well with existi…
The ab-plane optical spectra of two single crystals of underdoped La_(2-x)Sr_xCuO_4 were investigated. The reflectivity of La_(1.87)Sr_(0.13)CuO_4 has been measured in the frequency range 30- 9,000 cm-1 (0.004 -- 1 eV) both parallel and perpendicular to the CuO_2 planes, whereas La_(1.86)Sr_(0.14)CuO_4 was studied only in the ab-plane. The extended Drude model shows that the frequency-dependent effective scattering rate 1/tau(omega)is strongly suppressed below the high-frequency straight-line extrapolation, a signature of the pseudogap state. This suppression can be seen from temperatures belo…
Within the microscopic theory of the normal-state pseudogap state, the doping and temperature dependence of the charge dynamics in doped cuprates is studied in the whole doping range from the underdoped to heavily overdoped. The conductivity spectrum in the underdoped and optimally doped regimes contains the low-energy non-Drude peak and unusual midinfrared band. However, the position of the midinfrared band shifts towards to the low-energy non-Drude peak with increasing doping. In particular, the low-energy non-Drude peak incorporates with the midinfrared band in the heavily overdoped regime,…
Particle-hole symmetry in the pseudogap phase of moderately underdoped cuprate high temperature superconductors evidenced from joint density of states analysis
We show that electron pairing is indispensable for the development of the leading edge gap as observed in ARPES measurement in the underdoped cuprates, even though clear evidence for the violation of the particle-hole symmetry is found in the electron spectrum. To support this assertion, we studied the electron spectrum under the scattering of diffusive antiferromagnetic(AF) spin fluctuation, which is thought to be a major candidate for a competing order in the competing order scenario of the pseudogap phenomena. We find that the Fermi level crossing along the M=$(π,0)$ to X=$(π,π)$ line can o…
Through the measurements of magnetic field dependence of specific heat in $La_{2-x}Sr_xCuO_4$ in zero temperature limit, we determined the nodal slope $v_Δ$ of the quasiparticle gap. It is found that $v_Δ$ has a very similar doping dependence of the pseudogap temperature $T^*$ or value $Δ_p$. Meanwhile the virtual maximum gap at ($π,0$) derived from $v_Δ$ is found to follow the simple relation $Δ_q=0.46k_BT^*$ upon changing the doping concentration. This strongly suggests a close relationship between the pseudogap and superconductivity. It is further found that the superconducting transition t…
A wave function is proposed for the "$4\times 4$" inhomogeneous structures observed on cuprate superconductors. It is based on the Gutzwiller-RVB technique proposed in recent papers, and consists of a Wigner solid of hole pairs embedded in a sea of d-wave spin singlet pairs. Arguments are given that the nodal quasiparticles may remain unscattered and even superconducting on such a structure.
The pseudogap phase of high-$T_c$ cuprates is controversially attributed to preformed pairs or to a phase which coexists and competes with superconductivity. One of the challenges is to develop theoretical and experimental studies in order to distinguish between both proposals. Very recently, researchers at Stanford have reported [M. Hashimoto {\it et al.}, Nat. Phys. {\bf 6}, 414 (2010); R.-H. He {\it et al.}, Science {\bf 331}, 1579 (2011)] angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy experiments on Pb-Bi2201 supporting the point of view that the pseudogap is distinct from superconductivity and…
Nernst effect has been measured for an underdoped and an optimally doped $La_{2-x}Sr_xCuO_4$ single crystal with the magnetic field applied along different directions. For both samples, when $H \|$ c, a significant Nernst voltage appears above $T_c$ and keeps measurable up to a high temperature (100 K) as reported by Xu et al.[ Nature 406, 486(2000) ]. However, when $H \|$ a-b plane the Nernst signal drops below the noise level quickly above $T_c$ for the underdoped sample. Moreover, the in-plane Nernst data with field at different angles shows a nice scaling behavior with the c-axis component…
In earlier work, we have been concerned with the scaling properties of some classes of superconductors, specifically with heavy Fermion materials and with five bcc transition metals of BCS character. Both of these classes of superconductors were three-dimensional but here we are concerned solely with quasi-two-dimensional high-Tc cuprates in the underdoped region of their phase diagram. A characteristic feature of this part of the phase diagram is the existence of a pseudogap (pg). We therefore build our approach around the assumption that kB Tc / E_pg is the basic dimensionless ratio on which…
