In the quest to understand high-temperature superconductivity in copper oxides, a vigorous debate has been focused on the pseudogap - a partial gap that opens over portions of the Fermi surface in the 'normal' state above the bulk critical temperature ($T_{c}$). The pseudogap has been attributed to precursor superconductivity, to the existence of preformed pairs, or to competing orders such as charge-density waves. A direct determination of the charge of carriers as a function of temperature and bias could help resolve among these alternatives. Here, we report measurements of the shot noise of tunneling current in high-quality La$_{2-x}$Sr$_{x}$CuO$_{4}$/La$_{2}$CuO$_{4}$/La$_{2-x}$Sr$_{x}$CuO$_{4}$ (LSCO/LCO/LSCO) heterostructures fabricated using atomic-layer-by-layer molecular beam epitaxy, for several doping levels. The data delineate three distinct regions in the bias voltage-temperature ($V-T$) space. Well outside the superconducting gap region, the shot noise agrees quantitatively with independent tunneling of charge-e carriers. Deep within the gap, shot noise is greatly enhanced, reminiscent of multiple Andreev reflections. Starting above $T_{c}$ and extending to biases much larger than the gap, there is a broad region in which the noise substantially exceeds the expectations of single-charge tunneling, indicating pairing of carriers. Pairs are detectable deep into the pseudogap region of temperature and bias.
The anomalous momentum and doping dependence of the electron spectral function and electron dispersion for copper oxide materials in the underdoped regime are studied within the t-J model. It is shown that the electron spectrum is changed with dopings, and the electron dispersion exhibits a flat band around ($π$,0) point in the Brillouin zone, which leads to the normal-state pseudogap formation. The theoretical results are consistent with the experiments and numerical simulations.
One of the leading issues in high-$\rm T_c$ copper oxide superconductors is the origin of the pseudogap phase in the underdoped regime of their phase diagram. Using polarized neutron diffraction, a novel magnetic order has been identified as an hidden order parameter of the pseudogap as the transition temperature corresponds to what is expected for the pseudogap. The observed magnetic order preserves translational symmetry as predicted for orbital moments in the circulating current theory. Being now reported in three different cuprates familles, it appears as a universal phenomenon whatever th…
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.
Here we report the first angle-resolved photoemission measurement on nearly optimally-doped multi-layer Tl-based superconducting cuprates (Tl-2212 and Tl-1223) and a comparison study to single layer (Tl-2201) compound. A "kink" in the band dispersion is found in all three compounds but exhibits different momentum dependence for the single layer and multi-layer compounds, reminiscent to that of Bi-based cuprates. This layer number dependent renormalization effect strongly implies that the spin resonance mode is unlikely responsible for the dramatic renormalization effect near the antinodal regi…
We study superconductivity in multilayer copper oxides, in the frame of a realistic microscopic formulation. Solving the full temperature dependent BCS gap equations, we obtain a maximum in the transition temperature Tc for M=3 or 4 CuO2 layers in the unit cell for appropriate values of the interlayer tunneling (negative pair tunneling), and via the consideration of the doping imbalance between the inner and outer layers. This is the ubiquitous experimental result for Ca intercalated copper oxides, as opposed to other intercalating elements. Further, using a restricted set of parameters, we ob…
We apply strong magnetic fields of H=28.5 \sim 43 T to suppress superconductivity (SC) in the cuprates Bi_{2}Sr_{2-x}La_xCuO_{6+δ} (x=0.65, 0.40, 0.25, 0.15 and 0), and investigate the low temperature (T) normal state by ^{63}Cu nuclear spin-lattice relaxation rate (1/T_1) measurements. We find that the pseudogap (PG) phase persists deep inside the overdoped region but terminates at x \sim 0.05 that corresponds to the hole doping concentration of approximately 0.21. Beyond this critical point, the normal state is a Fermi liquid characterized by the T_1T=const relation. A comparison of the supe…
In the high-transition-temperature (high-Tc) superconductors the pseudogap phase becomes predominant when the density of doped holes is reduced1. Within this phase it has been unclear which electronic symmetries (if any) are broken, what the identity of any associated order parameter might be, and which microscopic electronic degrees of freedom are active. Here we report the determination of a quantitative order parameter representing intra-unit-cell nematicity: the breaking of rotational symmetry by the electronic structure within CuO2 unit cell. We analyze spectroscopic-imaging scanning tunn…
We report measurements of the anisotropy of the spin echo decay for the inner layer Cu site of the triple layer cuprate, Hg_0.8Re_0.2Ba_2Ca_2Cu_3O_8 (T_c=126 K) in the pseudogap T regime below T_pg ~ 170 K and the corresponding analysis for their interpretation. As the field alignment is varied, the shape of the decay curve changes from Gaussian (H_0 \parallel c) to single exponential (H_0 \perp c). The latter characterizes the decay caused by the fluctuations of adjacent Cu nuclear spins caused by their interactions with electron spins. The angular dependence of the second moment (T_{2M}^{-2}…
We report the hole doping dependencies of the pseudogap phase energy scale, $2Δ_{\rm PG}$, the anti-nodal (nodal) superconducting energy scales $2Δ^{AN}_{\rm SC}$ ($2Δ^{N}_{\rm SC}$) and the charge density wave energy scale, $2Δ_{\rm CDW}$. They have been extracted from the electronic Raman responses of distinct copper oxide families. For all the cuprates studied, we reveal universal doping dependencies which suggest that $2Δ_{\rm PG}$, $2Δ^{AN}_{\rm SC}$ and $2Δ_{\rm CDW}$ are governed by common microscopic interactions and that these interactions become relevant well above the superconductin…
The role of the anti-bonding state in the electron correlations in Copper Oxide HTSC is analyzed. Then the t-J Hamiltonian is used to establish the formation of the charge stripes in underdoped oxides. It is proposed that these stripes make up the boundaries between the two degenerate anti-ferromagnetic (AFM) states, and that they are a key factor in switching between these states. We also provide a theoretical expression for the charge driven AFM magnons that have been observed by Neutron scattering experiments. Finally, the double correlation theory is applied to the stripe phase of holes to…
We report nuclear magnetic resonance studies on the low-doped n-type copper-oxide Pr_{0.91}LaCe_{0.09}CuO_{4-y} (T_c=24 K) in the superconducting state and in the normal state uncovered by the application of a strong magnetic field. We find that when the superconductivity is removed, the underlying ground state is the Fermi liquid state. This result is at variance with that inferred from previous thermal conductivity measurement and contrast with that in p-type copper-oxides with a similar doping level where high-T_c superconductivity sets in within the pseudogap phase. The data in the superco…
The relaxation function theory for a doped two-dimensional Heisenberg antiferromagnetic system in the paramagnetic state for all wave vectors through the Brillouin zone is presented in view of low frequency response of high-$T_c$ copper oxide superconductors. We deduced the regions of long lifetime [$T \lesssim 400(1-4x)$ K] and "overdamped" [$T \gtrsim 700(1-4x)$ K] paramagnonlike excitations in the temperature ($T$)-doping index ($x$) phase diagram from plane oxygen nuclear spin-lattice relaxation rate $^{17}(1/T_1)$ data in up to optimally doped La$_{2-x}$Sr$_{x}$CuO$_{4}$ thus providing th…
To compare the superconductivity in strongly correlated electron systems with the antiferromagnetic fluctuations in the copper oxides and with the ferromagnetic fluctuations in Sr_2RuO_4 a t-J-I model is proposed. The antiferromagnetic coupling J results in the superconducting state of d_{x^2-y^2} symmetry and the ferromagnetic coupling constant I results in the spin-triplet p-type state. The difference in the gap anisotropies provides the large difference in T_c values, for the typical values of the coupling constants: T_c of order of 1K for the ruthenate and T_c of order of 100K for the cupr…
We use the results of first-principles electronic structure calculations and a strong coupling perturbation approach, together with general theoretical arguments, to illustrate the differences in super-exchange interactions between the copper-oxides and iron-pnictides. We show that the two magnetic ground states can be understood in a simple manner within the same theoretical foundation. Contrary to the emerging view that magnetic order in the iron-pnictides is of itinerant nature, we argue that the observed magnetic moment is small because of frustration introduced by the electrons of the Fe …
Recent neutron diffraction studies have yielded evidence that, in a particular cuprate family, holes doped into the CuO(2) planes segregate into stripes that separate antiferromagnetic domains. Here it is shown that such a picture provides a quantitatively consistent interpretation of the spin fluctuations measured by neutron scattering in La(1.85)Sr(0.15)CuO(4) and YBa(2)Cu(3)O(6+x).
We suggest that the phonon dispersion in cuprates becomes strongly anisotropic due to interaction with spin waves; moreover the phonon dispersion becomes singular along $|k_x|=|k_y|$ directions. This would allow more electrons to form Cooper pairs and increase temperature of the superconducting transition. The interaction of phonons with spin waves is more important than the interaction of phonons with free electrons, because spin waves do not have the Fermi surface constrain.
A reduction of the density of states near the Fermi energy in the normal state (pseudogap) of high-temperature oxide superconductors is examined on the basis of the two-dimensional tight-binding model with effective interactions due to antiferromagnetic fluctuations. By using antiferromagnetic correlation lengths which are phenomenologically assumed, the doping dependence of the pseudogap is obtained. The superconducting transition temperature decreases and eventually vanishes due to the pseudogap as the hole concentration is reduced.
Within a two component approach to high Tc copper oxides including polaronic couplings, we identify the pseudogap phase as the onset of polaron ordering. This ordering persists in the superconducting phase. A huge isotope effect on the pseudogap onset temperature is predicted and in agreement with experimental data. The anomalous temperature dependence of the mean square copper oxygen ion displacement observed above, at and below Tc stems from an s-wave superconducting component of the order parameter, whereas a pure d-wave order parameter alone can be excluded.
The isotope effect provided a crucial key to the development of the BCS (Bardeen-Cooper-Schrieffer) microscopic theory of superconductivity for conventional superconductors. In superconducting cooper oxides (cuprates) showing an unconventional type of superconductivity, the oxygen isotope effect is very peculiar: the exponential coefficient strongly depends on doping level. No consensus has been reached so far on the origin of the isotope effect in the cuprates. Here we show that the oxygen isotope effect in cuprates is in agreement with the bisoliton theory of superconductivity.
Spin subsystem of the copper oxides within the polar Jahn-Teller centers model corresponds to a singlet-triplet magnet where the local boson movement accompanied by the induced longitudinal spin fluctuations. These fluctuations determine the features of the magnetic inelastic scattering in the high-Tc cuprates.
The title quasi-1D copper oxides (0=< x =<0.4) were investigated by neutron diffraction and magnetic susceptibility studies. Polyhedral CuO4 units in the compounds were found to comprise linear-chains at inter-chain distance of approximately 10 A. The parent chain compound (x = 0), however, shows less anisotropic magnetic behavior above 2 K, although it is of substantially antiferromagnetic (mu_{eff}= 1.85 mu_{B} and Theta_{W} = -46.4 K) spin-chain system. A magnetic cusp gradually appears at about 100 K in T vs chi with the Bi substitution. The cusp (x = 0.4) is fairly characterized by and th…
High-transition-temperature superconductivity arises in copper oxides when holes or electrons are doped into the CuO2 planes of their insulating parent compounds. While hole-doping quickly induces metallic behavior and superconductivity in many cuprates, electron-doping alone is insufficient in materials such as R2CuO4 (R is Nd, Pr, La, Ce, etc.), where it is necessary to anneal an as-grown sample in a low-oxygen environment to remove a tiny amount of oxygen in order to induce superconductivity. Here we show that the microscopic process of oxygen reduction repairs Cu deficiencies in the as-gro…
The experimentally observed difference of superconducting critical temperature $T_{c}$ in hole-doped cuprates is studied by using an extended interlayer coupling model for layered d-wave superconductors. We show that the change of the maximum $T_{c}$ from series to series is determined by the next nearest neighboring hopping $t^{\prime}$, while the difference of the maximum $T_{c}$ among the compounds in a homogeneous series is controlled by the interlayer pairing strength. Our results provide helpful guidelines in the search for new high-$T_{c}$ superconductors.
Recent experiments indicate that static stripe-like charge order is generic to the hole-doped copper oxide superconductors and competes with superconductivity. Here we show that a similar type of charge order is present in La$_{5/3}$Sr$_{1/3}$CoO$_4$, an insulating analogue of the copper oxide superconductors containing cobalt in place of copper. The stripe phase we have detected is accompanied by short-range, quasi-one-dimensional, antiferromagnetic order, and provides a natural explanation for the distinctive hourglass shape of the magnetic spectrum previously observed in neutron scattering …
Within the framework of the QED3 theory of cuprates it is argued that bulk antiferromagnetic (AF) order can coexist with d-wave superconductivity in the underdoped region, in agreement with recent experiments. The AF order arises from the phase fluctuating d-wave superconductor via the mechanism of spontaneous chiral symmetry breaking, provided that fluctuations are sufficiently strong. The phase diagram for this coexistence is mapped out by means of analytical and numerical solutions of the underlying Dyson-Schwinger equation in the large N limit.
It has recently been proposed that the Fermi surface of underdoped high Tc copper oxide materials within the charge-ordered regime consists of a diamond-shaped electron pocket constructed from arcs connected at vertices. We show here that on modeling the in-plane magnetotransport of such a Fermi surface using the Shockley-Chambers tube integral approach and a uniform scattering time, several key features of the normal state in-plane transport of the underdoped copper oxide systems can be understood. These include the sign reversal in the Hall coefficient, the positive magnetoresistance and mag…
The $CuO_4$-cluster based copper oxides are considered as generalized quantum lattice bose-gas or a system of the local singlet bosons moving in a lattice of the hole Jahn-Teller centers $[CuO_{4}^{5-}]_{JT}$. The model is illustrated by the qualitative and quantitative description of the various peculiarities of an isotope shift (IS-) effect in a series of 123-like oxides.
Results for pseudogaps are obtained from a band model, where the stability of the gap depends on the amplitudes of vibrational displacements, or magnetic moments, and their coupling to electrons. A one-particle gap is favored by normal thermal excitations of phonons or spin waves. Another gap can be generated by spontaneous waves at lower temperature, if the electronic energy gain overcomes the elastic/magnetic energy needed for increased amplitudes of the oscillations. This state is characterized by charge or spin density waves. The pseudogap has many features in common with the superconducti…
We revisit the interlayer tunneling theory of high temperature superconductors and formulate it as a mechanism by which the striking systematics of the transition temperature within a given homologous series can be understood. We pay attention not only to the enhancement of pairing, as was originally suggested, but also to the role of competing order parameters that tend to suppress superconductivity, and to the charge imbalance between inequivalent outer and inner CuO2 planes in a unit cell. Calculations based on a generalized Ginzburg-Landau theory yield results that bear robust and remarkab…
We report on atomic-scale visualization of the structure of infinite-layer cuprate SrCuO2 thin films grown on Nb-doped SrTiO3 substrates by molecular beam epitaxy. In-situ scanning tunneling microscopy study reveals stoichiometric copper oxide (CuO2) plane with a 2 x 2 surface reconstruction, prompted by preferential clustering of four adjacent CuO2 plaquettes. By imaging the subsurface Sr atoms, intra-unit-cell rotational symmetry breaking is observed, which, together with the adjacent CuO2 clustering, can be well accounted for by a periodic up-down buckling of oxygen ions on the CuO2 plane. …
The generic band structure of high-T$_C$ copper oxides is simulated by the nearly free-electron model (NFE) in two dimensions (2-D) with parameters from band calculations. Interaction between phonons and spin waves will cause potential modulations and pseudogaps, and the strength of the modulations, the wave lengths and the doping, are all related. A Fermi-surface "arc" is found for dynamic spin/phonon waves. The confinement of superconductivity between two limiting dopings can be a result of competition with the pseudogap at low doping and weak coupling at high doping.
We perform first principles, multiconfiguration calculations on clusters including several CuO$_6$ octahedra and study the ground-state electron distribution and electron--lattice couplings when holes are added to the undoped $d^9 p^6$ configuration. We find that the so-called Zhang--Rice state on a single CuO$_4$ plaquette is nearly degenerate with a state whose leading configuration is of the form Cu $d^9$-- O $p^5$-- Cu $d^9$. A strong coupling between the electronic and nuclear motion gives rise to large inter-site charge transfer effects for half-breathing displacements of the oxygen ions…
Using elastic neutron scattering, we evidence a commensurate antiferromagnetic Cu(2) order (AF) in the superconducting (SC) high-$\rm T_c$ cuprate $\rm YBa_2(Cu_{1-y}Co_y)_3O_{7+δ}$ (y=0.013, $\rm T_c$=93 K). As in the Co-free system, the spin excitation spectrum is dominated by a magnetic resonance peak at 41 meV but with a reduced spectral weight. The substitution of Co thus leads to a state where AF and SC cohabit showing that the CuO$_2$ plane is a highly antiferromagnetically polarizable medium even for a sample where T$_c$ remains optimum.
A compact expression has been obtained for the superexchange coupling of magnetic ions via intermediate anions with regard to polaron effects at both magnetic ions and intermediate anions. This expression is used to analyze the main features of the behavior of isotope shifts for temperatures of three types in layered cuprates: the Neel temperatures ($T_N$), critical temperatures of transitions to a superconducting state ($T_C$), and characteristic temperatures of the pseudogap in the normal state ($T^*$).
We reexamine whether the essence of high-Tc superconductivity is contained in doped Hubbard models on the square lattice by using recently developed pre-projected Gaussian-basis Monte Carlo method. The superconducting correlations of the dx2-y2 wave symmetry in the ground state at distance r decays essentially as inverse cubic of r. The upper bound of the correlation at long distances estimated by this unbiased method is 0.001, indicating that recent extensions of dynamical mean-field theories and variational methods yielded at least an order of magnitude overestimates of it. The correlations …
The Cu K-edge resonant inelastic x-ray scattering (RIXS) spectrum in one-dimensional insulating cuprates is theoretically examined by using the exact diagonalization technique for the extended one-dimensional Hubbard model with nearest neighbor Coulomb interaction. We find the following characteristic features that can be detectable by RIXS experiments: (i) The spectrum with large momentum transfer indicates the formation of excitons, i.e., bound states of holon and doublon. (ii) The spectrum with small momentum transfer depends on the incident photon energy. We propose that the RIXS provides …
A great variety of novel phenomena occur when two-dimensional materials, such as graphene or transition metal dichalcogenides, are assembled into bilayers with a twist between individual layers. As a new application of this paradigm, we consider structures composed of two monolayer-thin $d$-wave superconductors with a twist angle $θ$ that can be realized by mechanically exfoliating van der Waals-bonded high-$T_c$ copper oxide materials, such as Bi$_2$Sr$_2$CaCu$_2$O$_{8+δ}$. On the basis of symmetry arguments and detailed microscopic modelling, we predict that for a range of twist angles in th…
In the copper-oxide parent compounds of the high-transition-temperature superconductors, the valence electrons are localized, one per copper site, due to strong intraatomic Coulomb repulsion. A symptom of the localization is antiferromagnetism, where the spins of localized electrons alternate between up and down. The superconductivity appears when mobile 'holes' are doped into this insulating state, and it coexists with antiferromagnetic fluctuations. In one approach to the coexistence, the holes are believed to self-organize into 'stripes' that alternate with antiferromagnetic (insulating) re…
Emergency of superconductivity at the instabilities of antiferromagnetism has been widely recognized in unconventional superconductors. In copper-oxide superconductors, spin fluctuations play a predominant role in electron pairing with electron dopants yet composite orders veil the nature of superconductivity for hole-doped family. However, in electron-doped copper oxide superconductors (cuprates) the AFM critical end point is still in controversy for different probes, demonstrating high sensitivity to oxygen content. Here, by carefully tuning the oxygen content, a systematic study of the Hall…
Since the discovery of high-transition temperature ($T_c$) superconductivity in layered copper oxides, extensive efforts have been devoted to explore the higher $T_c$ superconductivity. However, the $T_c$ higher than 40 K can be obtained only in the copper oxide superconductors so far. The highest reported value of $T_c$ for non-copper-oxide bulk superconductivity is 39 K in $MgB_2$.\cite{jun} The $T_c$ of about 40 K is close to or above the theoretical value predicted from BCS theory.\cite{mcmillan} Therefore, it is very significant to search for non-copper oxide superconductor with the trans…
We propose a possible way to simulate a hump structure in the optical scattering rate. The optical scattering rate of correlated charge carriers can be defined within an extended Drude model formalism. When some electron and hole doped copper oxide systems are in the spin density or charge density wave phases they show hump structures in their optical scattering rates. The hump structures have not yet been simulated and understood clearly. We are able to simulate the hump structure by using a peak followed by a dip feature in the normalized density of states within a generalized Allen formalis…
We investigate the effect of oxygen-oxygen hopping on the three-band copper-oxide model relevant to high-$T_c$ cuprates, finding that the physics is changed only slightly as the oxygen-oxygen hopping is varied. The location of the metal-insulator phase boundary in the plane of interaction strength and charge transfer energy shifts by $\sim 0.5$eV or less along the charge transfer axis, the quasiparticle weight has approximately the same magnitude and doping dependence and the qualitative characteristics of the electron-doped and hole-doped sides of the phase diagram do not change. The results …
Motivated by the observation in copper-oxide high-temperature superconductors, we investigate the appearance of kinks in the electronic dispersion due to coupling to phonons for a system with strong electronic repulsion. We study a Hubbard model supplemented by an electron-phonon coupling of Holstein type within Dynamical Mean Field Theory (DMFT) utilizing Numerical Renormalization Group as impurity solver. Paramagnetic DMFT solutions in the presence of large repulsion show a kink only for large values of the electron-phonon coupling $λ$ or large doping and, contrary to the conventional electr…
A two-band Hubbard model is used to describe the band structure and phase separation (PS) in multiband superconductors, especially in cuprates. We predict a large peak in the density of states at the Fermi level in the case of optimum doping, corresponding to the minimum energy difference between the centers of two hole bands. For strong interband hybridization, a metal-insulator transition occurs near this optimum doping level. We suggest a mechanism of PS related to the redistribution of holes between two Hubbard bands rather than to the usual antiferromagnetic correlations. We show that the…
To explain the high-temperature superconductivity of hole-doped copper-oxide high-temperature superconductors (HDCO-HTSCs), Anderson proposed a theory: (A) the pseudogap state is a resonating valence-bond (RVB) state below T* and (B) the RVB state translates itself into high-temperature superconducting state below Tc. In this paper we abandon Anderson theory B but still retain Anderson theory A and add three new hypotheses. Jointed three hypotheses with Anderson theory A, we construct an effective Hamiltonian of HDCO-HTSCs and explain why Tc-line is a dome in phase diagram and why HDCO-HTSCs h…
Three Component Model of Pseudogap State for Hihg Temperature Superconductors G.G.Sergeeva (Kharkov Institute of Physics and Technology, Ukraine), V.L.Vakula (Institute for Low Temperature Physics and Engineering, Ukraine) Abstract For underdoped cuprate HTS three component model of pseudogap state is proposed where it is shown that at T<T* the zero-dimensional superconducting fluctuations are developing in copper-oxygen planes in the addition to Jahn-Teller small polarons (with total spin 1/2) and holes. These superconducting fluctuations are the local "hole-Jahn-Teller small polaron" pairs w…
First principle band calculations based on local versions of density functional theory (DFT), together with results from nearly free-electron models, can describe many typical but unusual properties of the high-$T_C$ copper oxides. The methods and a few of the most important results are reviewed. Some additional calculations are presented and the problems with the commonly used approximate versions of DFT for oxides are discussed with a few ideas for corrections. It is concluded that rather modest corrections to the approximate DFT, without particular assumptions about strong correlation, can …
The microscopic understanding of high-temperature superconductivity in cuprates has been hindered by the apparent complexity of crystal structures in these materials. We used scanning tunneling microscopy and spectroscopy to study an electron-doped copper oxide compound Sr$_{1-x}$Nd$_x$CuO$_2$ that has only bare cations separating the CuO$_2$ planes and thus the simplest infinite-layer structure among all cuprate superconductors. Tunneling conductance spectra of the major CuO$_2$ planes in the superconducting state revealed direct evidence for a nodeless pairing gap, regardless of variation of…
Charge order has recently been identified as a leading competitor of high-temperature superconductivity in moderately doped cuprates. We provide a survey of universal and materials-specific aspects of this phenomenon, with emphasis on results obtained by scattering methods. In particular, we discuss the structure, periodicity, and stability range of the charge-ordered state, its response to various external perturbations, the influence of disorder, the coexistence and competition with superconductivity, as well as collective charge dynamics. In the context of this journal issue which honors Ro…
Superconductivity in layered copper-oxide compounds emerges when charge carriers are added to antiferromagnetically-ordered CuO2 layers. The carriers destroy the antiferromagnetic order, but strong spin fluctuations persist throughout the superconducting phase and are intimately linked to super-conductivity. Neutron scattering measurements of spin fluctuations in hole-doped copper oxides have revealed an unusual `hour-glass' feature in the momentum-resolved magnetic spectrum, present in a wide range of superconducting and non-superconducting materials. There is no widely-accepted explanation f…
We investigate the nature of the electronic ground state and electron-lattice couplings for doped chains of CuO_4 plaquettes or CuO_6 octahedra. The undoped configuration implies here Cu 3d^9 and O 2p^6 formal valence states. The results of multiconfiguration calculations on 4-plaquette (or 4-octahedra) linear clusters indicate strong electron-lattice interactions and polaronic behavior of the doped particles, for both electron and hole doping. For certain phases of the oxygen-ion half-breathing distortions a multi-well energy landscape is predicted. Since each well is associated to carriers l…
We demonstrate the presence of ferromagnetic (FM) fluctuations in the superconducting and non-superconducting heavily overdoped regimes of high-temperature superconducting copper oxides, using (Bi,Pb)_2_Sr_2_CuO_6+delta_ (Bi-2201) single crystals. Magnetization curves exhibit a tendency to be saturated in high magnetic fields at low temperatures in the heavily overdoped crystals, which is probably a precursor phenomenon of a FM transition at a lower temperature. Muon spin relaxation detects the enhancement of spin fluctuations at high temperatures below 200 K. Correspondingly, the ab-plane res…
We present a relativistic spin-fermion model for the cuprates, in which both the charge and spin degrees of freedom are treated dynamically. The spin-charge coupling parameter is associated with the doping fraction. The model is able to account for the various phases of the cuprates and their properties, not only at low and intermediate doping but also for (highly) over-doped compounds. In particular, we acquire a qualitative understanding of high-T_c superconductivity through Bose-Einstein condensation of bound charge pairs. The mechanism that binds these pairs does not require a Fermi sea.
We derive an expression for the effective Josephson coupling from the microscopic Hubbard model. It serves as a starting point for the description of phase fluctuations of local Cooper pairs in $d_{x^2-y^2}$-wave superconductors in the framework of an effective $XY$ model of plaquettes, the Josephson lattice. The expression for the effective interaction is derived by means of the local-force theorem, and it depends on local symmetry-broken correlation functions that we obtain using the cluster dynamical mean-field theory. Moreover, we apply the continuum limit to the Josephson lattice to obtai…
Here I extend my last work about the origin of the pseudo-gaps in underdoped cuprates (arXiv: cond-mat. 1011.3206), to include the mechanism of superconductivity. This is done by adapting the formalism of the double correlations in systems with nested Fermi surfaces to the semi one dimensional system of strings of holes. It is proposed that magnetic interaction is crucial for the establishment of the pseudogap and the high temperature superconductivity. It is shown that superconductivity disturbs the completeness of the strings of holes, and creates fluctuations in their shapes. This, in turn,…
We examine the effect on the superconducting transition temperature (Tc) of chemical inhomogeneities in Bi2201 and Bi2212 single crystals. Cation disorder at the Sr crystallographic site is inherent in these materials and strongly affects the value of Tc. Partial substitution of Sr by Ln (Ln = La, Pr, Nd, Sm, Eu, Gd, and Bi) in Bi_{2}Sr_{1.6}Ln_{0.4}CuO_{6} results in a monotonic decrease of Tc with increasing ionic radius mismatch. By minimizing Sr site disorder at the expense of Ca site disorder, we demonstrate that the Tc of Bi2212 can be increased to 96 K. Based on these results we discuss…
The mechanism of spin-phonon coupling (SPC) and possible consequencies for the properties of high-$T_C$ copper oxides are presented. The results are based on ab-initio LMTO band calculations and a nearly free-electron (NFE) model of the band near $E_F$. Many observed properties are compatible with SPC, as for the relation between doping and $\vec{q}$ for spin excitations and their energy dependence. The main pseudogap is caused by SPC and waves along [1,0,0], but it is suggested that secondary waves, generated along [1,1,0], contribute to a 'waterfall' structure. Conditions for optimal $T_C$, …
The effect of disorder on the superconducting transition temperature $T_{c}$ of cuprate superconductors is examined. Disorder is introduced into the cation sites in the plane adjacent to the CuO$_{2}$ planes of two single-layer systems, Bi$_{2.0}$Sr$_{1.6}$Ln$_{0.4}$CuO$_{6+δ}$ and La$_{1.85-y}$Nd$_{y}$Sr$_{0.15}$CuO$_{4}$. Disorder is controlled by changing rare earth (Ln) ions with different ionic radius in the former, and by varying the Nd content in the latter with the doped carrier density kept constant. We show that this type of disorder works as weak scatterers in contrast to the in-pla…
