Optical-phonon study of single crystals of various layered cuprates and related materials: Evidence of unique electron-phonon coupling in the CuO2 plane

Direct observation of nodeless superconductivity and phonon modes in electron-doped copper oxide Sr1-xNdxCuO2

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 the electron-doped copper oxide compound Sr_1−xNd_xCuO₂, which has only bare cations separating the CuO₂ planes and thus the simplest infinite-layer structure of all cuprate superconductors. Tunneling conductance spectra of the major CuO₂ planes in the superconducting state revealed direct evidence for a nodeless pairing gap, regardless of variation of its magnitude with the local doping of trivalent neodymium. Furthermore, three distinct bosonic modes are observed as multiple peak-dip-hump features outside the superconducting gaps and their respective energies depend little on the spatially varying gaps. As well as the bosonic modes, with energies identical to those of the external, bending and stretching phonons of copper oxides, our findings reveal the origin of the bosonic modes in lattice vibrations rather than spin excitations.

Doublon-holon pairing mechanism via exchange interaction in two-dimensional cuprate Mott insulators

Coupling of charge and spin degrees of freedom is a critical feature of correlated electron oxides, as represented by the spin-related mechanism of a Cooper pair under high-T _c superconductivity. A doublon-holon pair generated on an antiferromagnetic spin background is also predicted to attract each other via the spin-spin interaction J, similar to a Cooper pair, while its evidence is difficult to obtain experimentally. Here, we investigate such an excitonic effect by electroreflectance spectroscopy using terahertz electric field pulses in undoped cuprates: Nd₂CuO₄, Sr₂CuO₂Cl₂, and La₂CuO₄. Analyses of the spectral changes of reflectivity under electric fields reveal that the splitting of odd-parity and even-parity excitons, a measure of doublon-holon binding energy, increases with J. This trend is reproduced by t-J-type model calculations, providing strong evidence of the spin-related doublon-holon pairing. Agreement with the calculations supports the s-wave symmetry of the doublon-holon pair in contrast to the d-wave Cooper pair in doped cuprates.

Infrared probe of pseudogap in electron-doped Sr2IrO4

We report on infrared spectroscopy experiments on the electronic response in (Sr_1-x La _x )₂IrO₄ (x = 0, 0.021, and 0.067). Our data show that electron doping induced by La substitution leads to an insulator-to-metal transition. The evolution of the electronic structure across the transition reveals the robustness of the strong electronic correlations against the electron doping. The conductivity data of the metallic compound show the signature of the pseudogap that bears close similarity to the analogous studies of the pseudogap in the underdoped cuprates. While the low energy conductivity of the metallic compound is barely frequency dependent, the formation of the pseudogap is revealed by the gradual suppression of the featureless conductivity below a threshold frequency of about 17 meV. The threshold structure develops below about 100 K which is in the vicinity of the onset of the short-range antiferromagnetic order. Our results demonstrate that the electronic correlations play a crucial role in the anomalous charge dynamics in the (Sr_1-x La _x )₂IrO₄ system.

Optical studies of high-temperature superconducting cuprates

The optical studies of high-temperature superconducting cuprates (HTSC) are reviewed. From the doping dependence of room temperature spectra, a dramatic change of the electronic state from a Mott (charge transfer) insulator to a Fermi liquid has been revealed. Additionally, the unusual 2D nature of the electronic state has been found. The temperature dependence of the optical spectra provided a rich source of information on the pseudogap, superconducting gap, Josephson plasmon, transverse Josephson plasma mode and precursory superconductivity. Among these issues, Josephson plasmons and transverse Josephson plasma mode were experimentally discovered by optical measurements, and thus are unique to HTSC. The effect of the spin/charge stripe order is also unique to HTSC, reflecting the conducting nature of the stripe order in this system. The pair-breaking due to the stripe order seems stronger in the out-of-plane direction than in the in-plane one.

Monoisoamyl dimercaptosuccinic acid abrogates arsenic-induced developmental toxicity in human embryonic stem cell-derived embryoid bodies: comparison with in vivo studies

The ability of human embryonic stem (ES) cells to differentiate into the three germ layers has proposed its application in studying human developmental toxicity in vitro. In the current study we investigated if the prompted application could be utilized to evaluate the efficacy of a newly developed arsenic antidote, monoisoamyl dimercaptosuccinic acid (MiADMSA) against arsenic (III) and if the results obtained in vitro were in concordance with the animal model for studying developmental toxicity. On the basis of real time PCR (qRT-PCR) and cytotoxicity analysis of human embryoid bodies (EBs), we observed that arsenic (III) caused a significant down regulation of gene expression in all the three germ layers, which could be correlated with high mortality, visceral and skeletal defects in pups. Reversal of arsenic-induced dysfunctioning could be observed with concomitant treatment of MiADMSA in vitro and in vivo, indicating ES-EB model could provide toxicity information similar to in vivo model. IR spectroscopy further suggested that MiADMSA bind to arsenic to form adduct, which prevents arsenic from exerting its toxic effect in both models. To our knowledge this study provides first experimental evidence suggesting human ES cells could be utilized in studying the efficacy of drugs in a comparable manner with animal models. We conclude that the ES-EB model seems to be an effective, faster, cost effective method for predicting efficacy of a drug.

Far-infrared absorption and the metal-to-insulator transition in hole-doped cuprates

By studying the optical conductivity of Bi(2)Sr(2-x)La(x)CuO(6) and Y(0.97)Ca(0.03)Ba(2)Cu(3)O(6), we show that the metal-to-insulator transition in these hole-doped cuprates is driven by the opening of a small gap at low T in the far infrared. Its width is consistent with the observations of angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy in other cuprates, along the nodal line of the k space. The gap forms as the Drude term turns into a far-infrared absorption, whose peak frequency can be approximately predicted on the basis of a Mott-like transition. Another band in the midinfrared softens with doping but is less sensitive to the metal-to-insulator transition.

Oxygen isotope effect in the ab-plane reflectance of underdoped YBa(2)Cu(3)O(7-delta)

We have measured the effect of oxygen isotope substitution on the ab-plane reflectance of underdoped YBa(2)Cu(3)O(7-delta). The frequency shift of the transverse optic phonons due to the substitution of 16O by 18O yields an isotope effect of the expected magnitude for copper-oxygen stretching modes with alpha=0.5+/-0.1. The reflectance shoulder at 400-500 cm(-1) shows a much smaller exponent of alpha=0.1+/-0.1 in the normal state and alpha=0.23+/-0.1 in the superconducting state. These observations suggest that the shoulder is of electronic origin and not due to a phonon mode as has been suggested recently.

Optical response of high-dielectric-constant perovskite-related oxide

Optical conductivity measurements on the perovskite-related oxide CaCu3Ti4O12 provide a hint of the physics underlying the observed giant dielectric effect in this material. A low-frequency vibration displays anomalous behavior, implying that there is a redistribution of charge within the unit cell at low temperature. At infrared frequencies (terahertz), the value for the dielectric constant is approximately 80 at room temperature, which is far smaller than the value of approximately 10(5) obtained at lower radio frequencies (kilohertz). This discrepancy implies the presence of a strong absorption at very low frequencies due to dipole relaxation. At room temperature, the characteristic relaxation times are fast (less than or approximately 500 nanoseconds) but increase dramatically at low temperature, suggesting that the large change in dielectric constant may be due to a relaxor-like dynamical slowing down of dipolar fluctuations in nanosize domains.

Observation of the transverse optical plasmon in SmLa0.8Sr0.2CuO4-delta

We present microwave and infrared measurements on SmLa0.8Sr0.2CuO4-delta, which are direct evidence for the existence of a transverse optical plasma mode, observed as a peak in the c-axis optical conductivity. This mode appears as a consequence of the existence of two different intrinsic Josephson couplings between the CuO2 layers, one with a Sm2O2 block layer, and the other one with a (La,Sr)2O2-delta block layer. From the frequencies and the intensities of the collective modes we determine the value of the compressibility of the two dimensional electron fluid in the copper oxygen planes.

Phonon screening in high-temperature superconductors

In good conductors optical phonons are usually screened, and therefore not observed. However, sharp features due to infrared-active modes in the copper-oxygen planes are observed in the optical conductivity of Pr1.85Ce0.15CuO4 and YBa2Cu3O6.95. Oscillator strengths indicate that the screening of these modes is poor or totally absent. These materials are compared with eta-Mo4O11, in which lattice modes appear suddenly below the charge-density wave transition. It is proposed that poor screening in the cuprates originates from fluctuating charge inhomogeneities in the copper-oxygen planes.

Stripe conductivity in La1.775Sr0.225NiO4

We report Raman light-scattering and optical conductivity measurements on a single crystal of La1.775Sr0.225NiO4 which exhibits incommensurate charge-stripe order. The extra phonon peaks induced by stripe order can be understood in terms of the energies of phonons that occur at the charge-order wave vector Q(c). A strong Fano antiresonance for a Ni-O bond-stretching mode provides clear evidence for finite dynamical conductivity within the charge stripes.