Electronic excitations in Bi2Sr 2CaCu2O8: Fermi surface, dispersion, and absence of bilayer splitting

Phase diagram of Bi2Sr2CaCu2O8+δ revisited

In cuprate superconductors, the doping of carriers into the parent Mott insulator induces superconductivity and various other phases whose characteristic temperatures are typically plotted versus the doping level p. In most materials, p cannot be determined from the chemical composition, but it is derived from the superconducting transition temperature, Tc, using the assumption that the Tc dependence on doping is universal. Here, we present angle-resolved photoemission studies of Bi2Sr2CaCu2O8+δ, cleaved and annealed in vacuum or in ozone to reduce or increase the doping from the initial value corresponding to Tc = 91 K. We show that p can be determined from the underlying Fermi surfaces and that in-situ annealing allows mapping of a wide doping regime, covering the superconducting dome and the non-superconducting phase on the overdoped side. Our results show a surprisingly smooth dependence of the inferred Fermi surface with doping. In the highly overdoped regime, the superconducting gap approaches the value of 2Δ0 = (4 ± 1)kBTc.

Fermiology and electron dynamics of trilayer nickelate La4Ni3O10

Layered nickelates have the potential for exotic physics similar to high T_C superconducting cuprates as they have similar crystal structures and these transition metals are neighbors in the periodic table. Here we present an angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy (ARPES) study of the trilayer nickelate La₄Ni₃O₁₀ revealing its electronic structure and correlations, finding strong resemblances to the cuprates as well as a few key differences. We find a large hole Fermi surface that closely resembles the Fermi surface of optimally hole-doped cuprates, including its \documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \usepackage{amsmath} \usepackage{wasysym} \usepackage{amsfonts} \usepackage{amssymb} \usepackage{amsbsy} \usepackage{mathrsfs} \usepackage{upgreek} \setlength{\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \begin{document}$$d_{x^2-y^2}$$\end{document}dx2-y2 orbital character, hole filling level, and strength of electronic correlations. However, in contrast to cuprates, La₄Ni₃O₁₀ has no pseudogap in the \documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \usepackage{amsmath} \usepackage{wasysym} \usepackage{amsfonts} \usepackage{amssymb} \usepackage{amsbsy} \usepackage{mathrsfs} \usepackage{upgreek} \setlength{\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \begin{document}$$d_{x^2-y^2}$$\end{document}dx2-y2 band, while it has an extra band of principally \documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \usepackage{amsmath} \usepackage{wasysym} \usepackage{amsfonts} \usepackage{amssymb} \usepackage{amsbsy} \usepackage{mathrsfs} \usepackage{upgreek} \setlength{\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \begin{document}$$d_{3z^2-r^2}$$\end{document}d3z2-r2 orbital character, which presents a low temperature energy gap. These aspects drive the nickelate physics, with the differences from the cuprate electronic structure potentially shedding light on the origin of superconductivity in the cuprates.

Exploration of the electronic structure of nickelates with similar crystal structure to cuprates may shed a light on the origin of high T_c superconductivity. Here, Li et al. report strong resemblances and key differences of the electronic structure of trilayer nickelate La₄Ni₃O₁₀ compared to the cuprate superconductors.

Anomalous Inner-Gap Structure in Transport Characteristics of Superconducting Junctions with Degraded Interfaces

Quantitative description of charge transport across tunneling and break-junction devices with novel superconductors encounters some problems not present or not as severe for traditional superconducting materials. In this work, we explain unexpected features in related transport characteristics as an effect of a degraded nanoscaled sheath at the superconductor surface. A model capturing the main aspects of the ballistic charge transport across hybrid superconducting structures with normally conducting nanometer-thick interlayers is proposed. The calculations are based on a scattering formalism taking into account Andreev electron-into-hole (and inverse) reflections at normal metal-superconductor interfaces as well as transmission and backscattering events in insulating barriers between the electrodes. Current-voltage characteristics of such devices exhibit a rich diversity of anomalous (from the viewpoint of the standard theory) features, in particular shift of differential-conductance maxima at gap voltages to lower positions and appearance of well-defined dips instead expected coherence peaks. We compare our results with related experimental data.

An experimental setup for high resolution 10.5 eV laser-based angle-resolved photoelectron spectroscopy using a time-of-flight electron analyzer

We present an experimental setup for laser-based angle-resolved time-of-flight photoemission. Using a picosecond pulsed laser, photons of energy 10.5 eV are generated through higher harmonic generation in xenon. The high repetition rate of the light source, variable between 0.2 and 8 MHz, enables high photoelectron count rates and short acquisition times. By using a time-of-flight analyzer with angle-resolving capabilities, electrons emitted from the sample within a circular cone of up to ±15° can be collected. Hence, simultaneous acquisition of photoemission data for a complete area of the Brillouin zone is possible. The current photon energy enables bulk sensitive measurements, high angular resolution, and the resulting covered momentum space is large enough to enclose the entire Brillouin zone in cuprate high-T(c) superconductors. Fermi edge measurements on polycrystalline Au shows an energy resolution better than 5 meV. Data from a test measurement of the Au(111) surface state are presented along with measurements of the Fermi surface of the high-T(c) superconductor Bi(2)Sr(2)CaCu(2)O(8 + δ) (Bi2212).

Anomalous Fermi-surface dependent pairing in a self-doped high-Tc superconductor

We report the discovery of a self-doped multilayer high Tc superconductor Ba2Ca3Cu4O8F2 (F0234) which contains distinctly different superconducting gap magnitudes along its two Fermi-surface sheets. While formal valence counting would imply this material to be an undoped insulator, it is a self-doped superconductor with a Tc of 60 K, possessing simultaneously both electron- and hole-doped Fermi-surface sheets. Intriguingly, the Fermi-surface sheet characterized by the much larger gap is the electron-doped one, which has a shape disfavoring two electronic features considered to be important for the pairing mechanism: the van Hove singularity and the antiferromagnetic (pi/a, pi/a) scattering.

Crossover from coherent to incoherent electronic excitations in the normal state of Bi(2)Sr(2)CaCu(2)O(8+delta)

Angle resolved photoemission spectroscopy (ARPES) and resistivity measurements are used to explore the overdoped region of the high temperature superconductor Bi(2)Sr(2)CaCu(2)O(8+delta). We find evidence for a new crossover line in the phase diagram between a coherent metal phase, for lower temperatures and higher doping, and an incoherent metal phase, for higher temperatures and lower doping. The former is characterized by two well-defined spectral peaks in ARPES due to coherent bilayer splitting and superlinear behavior in the resistivity, whereas the latter is characterized by a single broad spectral feature in ARPES and a linear temperature dependence of the resistivity.

Resonant impurity states in the d-density-wave phase

We study the electronic structure near impurities in the d-density-wave (DDW) state, a possible candidate phase for the pseudogap region of the high-temperature superconductors. We show that the density of states near a nonmagnetic impurity in the DDW state is qualitatively different from that in a superconductor with dx(2)(-y(2)) symmetry. Thus, the electronic structure near impurities can provide insight into the nature of the two phases recently observed by scanning tunneling microscopy experiments in the superconducting state of underdoped Bi-2212 compounds.

Origin of the peak-dip-hump line shape in the superconducting-state (pi,0) photoemission spectra of Bi2Sr2CaCu2O8

From detailed high-resolution measurements of the photon energy dependence of the (pi,0) superconducting-state photoemission spectrum of the bilayer Bi high-temperature superconductors, we show that the famous peak-dip-hump line shape is dominated by a superposition of spectral features originating from different electronic states which reside at different binding energies, but are each describable by essentially identical single-particle spectral functions. The previously identified bilayer-split CuO2 bands are the culprit: with the "superconducting" peak being due to the antibonding band, while the hump is mainly formed by its bonding bilayer-split counterpart.

Spontaneous breaking of time-reversal symmetry in the pseudogap state of a high-Tc superconductor

A change in 'symmetry' is often observed when matter undergoes a phase transition-the symmetry is said to be spontaneously broken. The transition made by underdoped high-transition-temperature (high-Tc) superconductors is unusual, in that it is not a mean-field transition as seen in other superconductors. Rather, there is a region in the phase diagram above the superconducting transition temperature Tc (where phase coherence and superconductivity begin) but below a characteristic temperature T* where a 'pseudogap' appears in the spectrum of electronic excitations. It is therefore important to establish if T* is just a cross-over temperature arising from fluctuations in the order parameter that will establish superconductivity at Tc (refs 3, 4), or if it marks a phase transition where symmetry is spontaneously broken. Here we report that, for a material in the pseudogap state, left-circularly polarized photons give a different photocurrent from right-circularly polarized photons. This shows that time-reversal symmetry is spontaneously broken below T*, which therefore corresponds to a phase transition.

Coherent quasiparticle weight and its connection to high-T(c) superconductivity from angle-resolved photoemission

We study the doping and temperature dependence of the single-particle coherent weight, z(A), for high- T(c) superconductors Bi(2)Sr(2)CaCu(2)O(8+x) using angle-resolved photoemission. We find that at low temperatures the coherent weight z(A) at (pi,0) is proportional to the carrier concentration x and that the temperature dependence of z(A) is similar to that of the c-axis superfluid density. We show that, for a wide range of carrier concentration, the superconducting transition temperature scales with the product of the low-temperature coherent weight and the maximum superconducting gap.

Doubling of the bands in overdoped Bi2Sr2CaCu2O(8+delta): evidence for c-axis bilayer coupling

We present high resolution angle resolved photoemission data of the bilayer superconductor Bi(2)Sr(2)CaCu(2)O(8+delta) (Bi2212) showing a clear doubling of the near E(F) bands. This splitting approaches zero along the (0,0)-->(pi,pi) nodal line and is not observed in single layer Bi(2)Sr(2)CuO(6+delta) (Bi2201), indicating that the splitting is due to the long sought after bilayer splitting effect. The splitting has a magnitude of approximately 75 meV near the middle of the zone, extrapolating to about 110 meV near the (pi,0) point. The existence of these two bands also helps to clear up the recent controversy concerning the topology of the Fermi surface.

Bilayer splitting in the electronic structure of heavily overdoped Bi(2)Sr(2)CaCu(2)O(8+delta)

The electronic structure of heavily overdoped Bi(2)Sr(2)CaCu(2)O(8+delta) is investigated by angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy. The long-sought bilayer band splitting in this two-plane system is observed in both normal and superconducting states, which qualitatively agrees with the bilayer Hubbard model calculations. The maximum bilayer energy splitting is about 88 meV for the normal state feature, while it is only about 20 meV for the superconducting peak.

Spin orthogonality catastrophe in two-dimensional antiferromagnets and superconductors

We compute the spectral function of a spin S hole injected into a two-dimensional antiferromagnet or superconductor in the vicinity of a magnetic quantum critical point. We show that, near Van Hove singularities, the problem maps onto that of a static vacancy carrying excess spin S. The hole creation operator is characterized by a new boundary anomalous dimension and a vanishing quasiparticle residue at the critical point. We discuss possible relevance to photoemission spectra of cuprate superconductors near the antinodal points.

Cu valency change induced by O doping in YBCPO

An ab initio local spin density study of YBa2Cu3O6, YBa2Cu3O6.5, and YBa2Cu3O7 is presented. The method includes self-interaction corrections for the Cu d states, which enables a description of various valency configurations of both planar and chain Cu atoms. For YBa2Cu3O6 the antiferromagnetic and insulating state is described with planar (chain) Cu occurring in a divalent (trivalent) state. The evolution in the CuO2 plane from insulating to metallic behavior upon oxygenation is accomplished by the delocalization of the majority Cu d(x2-y2)-O2 p(x)-O3 p(y) band.

Neutron resonance: modeling photoemission and tunneling data in the superconducting state of Bi2Sr2CaCu2O8+delta

Motivated by neutron scattering data, we develop a model of electrons interacting with a magnetic resonance and use it to analyze angle resolved photoemission and tunneling data in the superconducting state of Bi(2)Sr(2)CaCu(2)O(8+delta). We not only can explain the peak-dip-hump structure observed near the (pi,0) point, and its particle-hole asymmetry as seen in superconductor-insulator-normal tunneling spectra, but also its evolution throughout the Brillouin zone, including a velocity "kink" near the d-wave node.

Fermi surface of Bi2Sr2CaCu2O8

We study the Fermi surface of Bi2Sr2CaCu2O8 using angle resolved photoemission spectroscopy (ARPES) with a momentum resolution of approximately 0.01 of the Brillouin zone. We show that, contrary to recent suggestions, the ARPES derived Fermi surface is a large hole barrel centered at (pi,pi), independent of the incident photon energy. We caution that the photon energy and k dependence of the matrix elements, if not properly accounted for, can lead to misinterpretation of ARPES intensities.

Joys and pitfalls of fermi surface mapping in Bi(2)Sr(2)CaCu(2)O(8+delta) using angle resolved photoemission

On the basis of angle-scanned photoemission data recorded using unpolarized radiation, with high (E,k) resolution, and an extremely dense sampling of k space, we resolve the current controversy regarding the normal state Fermi surface (FS) in Bi(2)Sr(2)CaCu(2)O(8+delta). The true picture is simple, self-consistent, and robust: the FS is holelike, with the form of rounded tubes centered on the corners of the Brillouin zone. Two further types of features are also clearly observed: shadow FSs, which are most likely to be due to short range antiferromagnetic spin correlations, and diffraction replicas of the main FS caused by passage of the photoelectrons through the modulated Bi-O planes.

Advances in the physics of high-temperature superconductivity

The high-temperature copper oxide superconductors are of fundamental and enduring interest. They not only manifest superconducting transition temperatures inconceivable 15 years ago, but also exhibit many other properties apparently incompatible with conventional metal physics. The materials expand our notions of what is possible, and compel us to develop new experimental techniques and theoretical concepts. This article provides a perspective on recent developments and their implications for our understanding of interacting electrons in metals.