Universal superconductor-insulator transition and Tc depression in Zn-substituted high-Tc cuprates in the underdoped regime

Linear-in-temperature resistivity for optimally superconducting (Nd,Sr)NiO2

The occurrence of superconductivity in proximity to various strongly correlated phases of matter has drawn extensive focus on their normal state properties, to develop an understanding of the state from which superconductivity emerges^1-4. The recent finding of superconductivity in layered nickelates raises similar interests^5-8. However, transport measurements of doped infinite-layer nickelate thin films have been hampered by materials limitations of these metastable compounds: in particular, a high density of extended defects^9-11. Here, by moving to a substrate (LaAlO₃)_0.3(Sr₂TaAlO₆)_0.7 that better stabilizes the growth and reduction conditions, we can synthesize the doping series of Nd_1-xSr_xNiO₂ essentially free from extended defects. In their absence, the normal state resistivity shows a low-temperature upturn in the underdoped regime, linear behaviour near optimal doping and quadratic temperature dependence for overdoping. This is phenomenologically similar to the copper oxides^2,12 despite key distinctions-namely, the absence of an insulating parent compound^5,6,9,10, multiband electronic structure^13,14 and a Mott-Hubbard orbital alignment rather than the charge-transfer insulator of the copper oxides^15,16. We further observe an enhancement of superconductivity, both in terms of transition temperature and range of doping. These results indicate a convergence in the electronic properties of both superconducting families as the scale of disorder in the nickelates is reduced.

Pseudogap formation due to charge-transfer transition and Kondo effect

We investigate the doping evolution of the electronic state of the three-bandt-J-Umodel considering the normal state of the hole-doped high-Tcsuperconducting cuprate. In our model, when some number of holes are doped into the undoped state, thedelectron exhibits the charge-transfer (CT)-type Mott-Hubbard transition along with a chemical potential jump. A reduced CT gap is formed from thepband and the coherent component of thedband, and it shrinks due to charge fluctuations as more holes are doped as in the pseudogap (PG) phenomenon. This trend is reinforced as thed-pband hybridization is increased, and a Fermi liquid state is retrieved as in the Kondo effect. These suggest that the PG in the hole-doped cuprate emerges due to the CT transition and the Kondo effect.

Differentiated roles of Lifshitz transition on thermodynamics and superconductivity in La2-xSrxCuO4

The effect of Lifshitz transition on thermodynamics and superconductivity in hole-doped cuprates has been heavily debated but remains an open question. In particular, an observed peak of electronic specific heat is proposed to originate from fluctuations of a putative quantum critical point p* (e.g., the termination of pseudogap at zero temperature), which is close to but distinguishable from the Lifshitz transition in overdoped La-based cuprates where the Fermi surface transforms from hole-like to electron-like. Here we report an in situ angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy study of three-dimensional Fermi surfaces in La_2-xSr_xCuO₄ thin films (x = 0.06 to 0.35). With accurate k_z dispersion quantification, the said Lifshitz transition is determined to happen within a finite range around x = 0.21. Normal state electronic specific heat, calculated from spectroscopy-derived band parameters, reveals a doping-dependent profile with a maximum at x = 0.21 that agrees with previous thermodynamic microcalorimetry measurements. The account of the specific heat maximum by underlying band structures excludes the need for additionally dominant contribution from the quantum fluctuations at p*. A d-wave superconducting gap smoothly across the Lifshitz transition demonstrates the insensitivity of superconductivity to the dramatic density of states enhancement.

Magic Gap Ratio for Optimally Robust Fermionic Condensation and Its Implications for High-T_{c} Superconductivity

Bardeen-Schrieffer-Cooper (BCS) and Bose-Einstein condensation (BEC) occur at opposite limits of a continuum of pairing interaction strength between fermions. A crossover between these limits is readily observed in a cold atomic Fermi gas. Whether it occurs in other systems such as the high temperature superconducting cuprates has remained an open question. We uncover here unambiguous evidence for a BCS-BEC crossover in the cuprates by identifying a universal magic gap ratio 2Δ/k_{B}T_{c}≈6.5 (where Δ is the pairing gap and T_{c} is the transition temperature) at which paired fermion condensates become optimally robust. At this gap ratio, corresponding to the unitary point in a cold atomic Fermi gas, the measured condensate fraction N_{0} and the height of the jump δγ(T_{c}) in the coefficient γ of the fermionic specific heat at T_{c} are strongly peaked. In the cuprates, δγ(T_{c}) is peaked at this gap ratio when Δ corresponds to the antinodal spectroscopic gap, thus reinforcing its interpretation as the pairing gap. We find the peak in δγ(T_{c}) also to coincide with a normal state maximum in γ, which is indicative of a pairing fluctuation pseudogap above T_{c}.

Disorder raises the critical temperature of a cuprate superconductor

With the discovery of charge-density waves (CDWs) in most members of the cuprate high-temperature superconductors, the interplay between superconductivity and CDWs has become a key point in the debate on the origin of high-temperature superconductivity. Some experiments in cuprates point toward a CDW state competing with superconductivity, but others raise the possibility of a CDW-superconductivity intertwined order or more elusive pair-density waves (PDWs). Here, we have used proton irradiation to induce disorder in crystals of [Formula: see text] and observed a striking 50% increase of [Formula: see text], accompanied by a suppression of the CDWs. This is in sharp contrast with the behavior expected of a d-wave superconductor, for which both magnetic and nonmagnetic defects should suppress [Formula: see text] Our results thus make an unambiguous case for the strong detrimental effect of the CDW on bulk superconductivity in [Formula: see text] Using tunnel diode oscillator (TDO) measurements, we find indications for potential dynamic layer decoupling in a PDW phase. Our results establish irradiation-induced disorder as a particularly relevant tuning parameter for the many families of superconductors with coexisting density waves, which we demonstrate on superconductors such as the dichalcogenides and [Formula: see text].

Impurity-Induced Spin-State Crossover in La0.8Sr0.2Co1−xAlxO3

We have prepared a set of polycrystalline samples of La 0.8 Sr 0.2 Co 1 − x Al x O 3 ( 0 ≤ x ≤ 0.2 ), and have measured the magnetization as functions of temperature and magnetic field. We find that the average spin number per Co ion ( S Co ) evaluated from the room-temperature susceptibility is around 1.2–1.3 and independent of x. However, we further find that S Co evaluated from the saturation magnetization at 2 K is around 0.3–0.7, and decreases dramatically with x. This naturally indicates that a significant fraction of the Co 3 + ions experience a spin-state crossover from the intermediate- to low-spin state with decreasing temperature in the Al-substituted samples. This spin-state crossover also explains the resistivity and the thermopower consistently. In particular, we find that the thermopower is anomalously enhanced by the Al substitution, which can be consistently explained in terms of an extended Heikes formula.

Resistivity bound for hydrodynamic bad metals

We obtain a rigorous upper bound on the resistivity [Formula: see text] of an electron fluid whose electronic mean free path is short compared with the scale of spatial inhomogeneities. When such a hydrodynamic electron fluid supports a nonthermal diffusion process-such as an imbalance mode between different bands-we show that the resistivity bound becomes [Formula: see text] The coefficient [Formula: see text] is independent of temperature and inhomogeneity lengthscale, and [Formula: see text] is a microscopic momentum-preserving scattering rate. In this way, we obtain a unified mechanism-without umklapp-for [Formula: see text] in a Fermi liquid and the crossover to [Formula: see text] in quantum critical regimes. This behavior is widely observed in transition metal oxides, organic metals, pnictides, and heavy fermion compounds and has presented a long-standing challenge to transport theory. Our hydrodynamic bound allows phonon contributions to diffusion constants, including thermal diffusion, to directly affect the electrical resistivity.

Complementary Response of Static Spin-Stripe Order and Superconductivity to Nonmagnetic Impurities in Cuprates

We report muon-spin rotation and neutron-scattering experiments on nonmagnetic Zn impurity effects on the static spin-stripe order and superconductivity of the La214 cuprates. Remarkably, it was found that, for samples with hole doping x≈1/8, the spin-stripe ordering temperature T_{so} decreases linearly with Zn doping y and disappears at y≈4%, demonstrating a high sensitivity of static spin-stripe order to impurities within a CuO_{2} plane. Moreover, T_{so} is suppressed by Zn in the same manner as the superconducting transition temperature T_{c} for samples near optimal hole doping. This surprisingly similar sensitivity suggests that the spin-stripe order is dependent on intertwining with superconducting correlations.

Suppression of Superfluid Density and the Pseudogap State in the Cuprates by Impurities

We use scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) to study magnetic Fe impurities intentionally doped into the high-temperature superconductor Bi_{2}Sr_{2}CaCu_{2}O_{8+δ}. Our spectroscopic measurements reveal that Fe impurities introduce low-lying resonances in the density of states at Ω_{1}≈4  meV and Ω_{2}≈15  meV, allowing us to determine that, despite having a large magnetic moment, potential scattering of quasiparticles by Fe impurities dominates magnetic scattering. In addition, using high-resolution spatial characterizations of the local density of states near and away from Fe impurities, we detail the spatial extent of impurity-affected regions as well as provide a local view of impurity-induced effects on the superconducting and pseudogap states. Our studies of Fe impurities, when combined with a reinterpretation of earlier STM work in the context of a two-gap scenario, allow us to present a unified view of the atomic-scale effects of elemental impurities on the pseudogap and superconducting states in hole-doped cuprates; this may help resolve a previously assumed dichotomy between the effects of magnetic and nonmagnetic impurities in these materials.

Self-optimized superconductivity attainable by interlayer phase separation at cuprate interfaces

Stabilizing superconductivity at high temperatures and elucidating its mechanism have long been major challenges of materials research in condensed matter physics. Meanwhile, recent progress in nanostructuring offers unprecedented possibilities for designing novel functionalities. Above all, thin films of cuprate and iron-based high-temperature superconductors exhibit remarkably better superconducting characteristics (for example, higher critical temperatures) than in the bulk, but the underlying mechanism is still not understood. Solving microscopic models suitable for cuprates, we demonstrate that, at an interface between a Mott insulator and an overdoped nonsuperconducting metal, the superconducting amplitude is always pinned at the optimum achieved in the bulk, independently of the carrier concentration in the metal. This is in contrast to the dome-like dependence in bulk superconductors but consistent with the astonishing independence of the critical temperature from the carrier density x observed at the interfaces of La2CuO4 and La2-x Sr x CuO4. Furthermore, we identify a self-organization mechanism as responsible for the pinning at the optimum amplitude: An emergent electronic structure induced by interlayer phase separation eludes bulk phase separation and inhomogeneities that would kill superconductivity in the bulk. Thus, interfaces provide an ideal tool to enhance and stabilize superconductivity. This interfacial example opens up further ways of shaping superconductivity by suppressing competing instabilities, with direct perspectives for designing devices.

Disappearance of nodal gap across the insulator-superconductor transition in a copper-oxide superconductor

The parent compound of the copper-oxide high-temperature superconductors is a Mott insulator. Superconductivity is realized by doping an appropriate amount of charge carriers. How a Mott insulator transforms into a superconductor is crucial in understanding the unusual physical properties of high-temperature superconductors and the superconductivity mechanism. Here we report high-resolution angle-resolved photoemission measurement on heavily underdoped Bi₂Sr₂-xLaxCuO(₆+δ) system. The electronic structure of the lightly doped samples exhibit a number of characteristics: existence of an energy gap along the nodal direction, d-wave-like anisotropic energy gap along the underlying Fermi surface, and coexistence of a coherence peak and a broad hump in the photoemission spectra. Our results reveal a clear insulator-superconductor transition at a critical doping level of ~0.10 where the nodal energy gap approaches zero, the three-dimensional antiferromagnetic order disappears, and superconductivity starts to emerge. These observations clearly signal a close connection between the nodal gap, antiferromagnetism and superconductivity.

Anisotropy of the in-plane resistivity of underdoped Ba(Fe(1-x)Co(x))2As2 superconductors induced by impurity scattering in the antiferromagnetic orthorhombic phase

We investigated the in-plane resistivity anisotropy for underdoped Ba(Fe(1-x)Co(x))(2)As(2) single crystals with improved quality. We demonstrate that the anisotropy in resistivity in the magnetostructural ordered phase arises from the anisotropy in the residual component which increases in proportion to the Co concentration x. This gives evidence that the anisotropy originates from the impurity scattering by Co atoms substituted for the Fe sites, rather than the so far proposed mechanisms such as the anisotropy of Fermi velocities of reconstructed Fermi surface pockets. As doping proceeds to the paramagnetic-tetragonal phase, a Co impurity transforms to a weak and isotropic scattering center.

Dependence of carrier doping on the impurity potential in transition-metal-substituted FeAs-based superconductors

In order to examine to what extent the rigid-band-like electron doping scenario is applicable to the transition metal-substituted Fe-based superconductors, we have performed angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy studies of Ba(Fe(1-x)Ni(x))(2)As(2) (Ni-122) and Ba(Fe(1-x)Cu(x))(2)As(2) (Cu-122), and compared the results with Ba(Fe(1-x)Co(x))(2)As(2) (Co-122). We find that Ni 3d-derived features are formed below the Fe 3d band and that Cu 3d-derived ones further below it. The electron and hole Fermi surface (FS) volumes are found to increase and decrease with substitution, respectively, qualitatively consistent with the rigid-band model. However, the total extra electron number estimated from the FS volumes (the total electron FS volume minus the total hole FS volume) is found to decrease in going from Co-, Ni-, to Cu-122 for a fixed nominal extra electron number, that is, the number of electrons that participate in the formation of FS decreases with increasing impurity potential. We find that the Néel temperature T(N) and the critical temperature T(c) maximum are determined by the FS volumes rather than the nominal extra electron concentration or the substituted atom concentration.

Competition between antiferromagnetism and superconductivity in the electron-doped cuprates triggered by oxygen reduction

We have performed a systematic angle-resolved photoemission study of as-grown and oxygen-reduced Pr(2-x)CexCuO4 and Pr(1-x)LaCexCuO4 electron-doped cuprates. In contrast with the common belief, neither the band filling nor the band parameters are significantly affected by the oxygen reduction process. Instead, we show that the main electronic role of the reduction process is to remove an anisotropic leading edge gap around the Fermi surface. While the nodal leading edge gap is induced by long-range antiferomagnetic order, the origin of the antinodal one remains unclear.

Effect of disorder outside the CuO2 planes on Tc of copper oxide superconductors

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 CuO2 planes of two single-layer systems, Bi(2.0)Sr(1.6)Ln(0.4)CuO(6+delta) and La(1.85-y)Nd(y)Sr0.15CuO4. Disorder is controlled by changing rare earth (Ln) ions with a 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-plane disorder produced by Zn, but remarkably reduces T(c), suggesting novel effects of disorder on high-T(c) superconductivity.

Possible field-tuned superconductor-insulator transition in high-Tc superconductors: implications for pairing at high magnetic fields

The behavior of some high temperature superconductors (HTSC), such as La(2-x)Sr(x)CuO(4) and Bi(2)Sr(2-x)La(x)CuO(6 + delta), at very high magnetic fields, is similar to that of thin films of amorphous InOx near the magnetic-field-tuned superconductor-insulator transition. Analyzing the InOx data at high fields in terms of persisting local pairing amplitude, we argue by analogy that the local pairing amplitude also persists well into the dissipative state of the HTSCs, the regime commonly denoted as the "normal state" in very high magnetic field experiments.

Nernst effect in poor conductors and in the cuprate superconductors

We calculate the Nernst signal in disordered conductors with the chemical potential near the mobility edge. The Nernst effect originates from the interference of itinerant and localized-carrier contributions to the thermomagnetic transport. It reveals a strong temperature and magnetic field dependence, which describes quantitatively the anomalous Nernst signal in high-Tc cuprates.

Influence of pair breaking and phase fluctuations on disordered high Tc cuprate superconductors

Electron irradiation has been used to introduce point defects in a controlled way in underdoped and optimally doped YBa(2)Cu(3)O(7-delta) crystals. This technique allows us to perform very accurate measurements of T(c) and of the ab plane resistivity in a wide range of defect contents x(d) down to T(c)=0. The variation of T(c) and of the transition width with x(d) do not follow current predictions of pair-breaking theories. The data are rather compatible, at least for the highly damaged regime, with the expected influence of phase fluctuations. These results open new questions about the evolution of the defect induced T(c) depression over the phase diagram of the cuprates.

Freezing of a stripe liquid

The existence of a stripe-liquid phase in a layered nickelate, La(1.725)Sr(0.275)NiO(4), is demonstrated through neutron scattering measurements. We show that incommensurate magnetic fluctuations evolve continuously through the charge-ordering temperature, although an abrupt decrease in the effective damping energy is observed on cooling through the transition. The energy and momentum dependence of the magnetic scattering are parametrized with a damped-harmonic-oscillator model describing overdamped spin waves in the antiferromagnetic domains defined instantaneously by charge stripes.

Entropy of vortex cores near the superconductor-insulator transition in an underdoped cuprate

We present a study of Nernst effect in underdoped La(2-x)Sr(x)CuO4 in magnetic fields as high as 28 T. At high fields, a sizable Nernst signal was found to persist in the presence of a field-induced nonmetallic resistivity. By simultaneously measuring resistivity and the Nernst coefficient, we extract the entropy of vortex cores in the vicinity of this field-induced superconductor-insulator transition. Moreover, the temperature dependence of the thermoelectric Hall angle provides strong constraints on the possible origins of the finite Nernst signal above T(c), as recently discovered by Xu et al. [Nature (London) 406, 486 (2000)].

T(c) suppression in co-doped striped cuprates

We propose a model that explains the reduction of T(c) due to the pinning of stripes by planar impurity co-doping in cuprates. A geometrical argument about the planar fraction of carriers affected by stripe pinning leads to a linear T(c) suppression as a function of impurity concentration z. The critical value z(c) for the vanishing of superconductivity is shown to scale like T(2)(c) in the incompressible stripe regime and becomes universal in the compressible regime. Our theory agrees very well with the experimental data in single- and bilayer cuprates co-doped with Zn, Li, Co, etc.

Disorder and transport in cuprates: weak localization and magnetic contributions

We report resistivity measurements in underdoped YBa 2Cu3O6.6 and overdoped Tl 2Ba2CuO6+x single crystals in which the concentration of defects in the CuO (2) planes is controlled by electron irradiation. Low T upturns of the resistivity are observed in both cases for large defect content. In the Tl compound the decrease of conductivity scales as expected from weak localization theory. On the contrary, in YBa 2Cu3O6.6 the much larger low T contribution to the resistivity is proportional to the defect content and might then be associated with a Kondo-like spin flip scattering term. This would be consistent with the results on the magnetic properties induced by spinless defects.

Isotope effects in underdoped cuprate superconductors: a quantum critical phenomenon

We show that the unusual doping dependence of the isotope effects on transition temperature and zero temperature in-plane penetration depth naturally follows from the doping driven 3D-2D crossover and the 2D quantum superconductor to insulator transition in the underdoped limit. Since lattice distortions are the primary consequence of isotope substitution, our analysis clearly reveals the strong involvement of lattice degrees of freedom in mediating superconductivity.

Superconductor-to-insulator transition and transport properties of underdoped YBa2Cu3O(y) crystals

The carrier-concentration-driven superconductor-to-insulator (SI) transition as well as transport properties in underdoped YBa2Cu3O(y) twinned crystals is studied. The SI transition takes place at y approximately 6.3, carrier concentration n(SI)H approximately 3x10(20) cm(-3), anisotropy rho(c)/rho(ab) approximately 10(3), and the threshold resistivity rho(SI)ab approximately 0.8 mOmega cm which corresponds to a critical sheet resistance h/4e2 approximately 6.5 kOmega per CuO2 bilayer. The evolution of a carrier, nH infiniti y - 6.2, is clearly observed in the underdoped region. The resistivity and Hall coefficient abruptly acquire strong temperature dependence at y approximately 6.5 indicating a radical change in the electronic state.

Zero-temperature d-wave superconducting phase transition

The Ginzburg-Landau-Wilson theory that describes the disordered-metal- d-wave-superconductor phase transition at zero temperature is derived at weak coupling. The theory represents an interacting dissipative system of bosonic Cooper pairs in an effective random potential. I show that there exists a wide crossover regime in the theory controlled by a line of Gaussian fixed points, each of which in two dimensions is characterized by a different universal value of the dc critical conductivity. Relation to experiments on overdoped and underdoped cuprates is discussed.

Commensurate dynamic magnetic correlations in La2Cu0.9Li0.1O4

When sufficient numbers of holes are introduced into the two-dimensional CuO2 square lattice, dynamic magnetic correlations become incommensurate with underlying lattice in all previously investigated La(2-x)A(x)Cu(1-z)B(z)O(4+y) ( A = Sr or Nd, B = Zn) including high T(c) superconductors and insulators, and in bilayered superconducting YBa2Cu3O6.6 and Bi2Sr2CaCu2O8. Magnetic correlations also become incommensurate in structurally related La2NiO4 when doped with Sr or O. We report an exception to this so-far well-established experimental "rule" in La(2)Cu(1-z)Li(z)O4 in which magnetic correlations remain commensurate.

Imaging the effects of individual zinc impurity atoms on superconductivity in Bi2Sr2CaCu2O8+delta

Although the crystal structures of the copper oxide high-temperature superconductors are complex and diverse, they all contain some crystal planes consisting of only copper and oxygen atoms in a square lattice: superconductivity is believed to originate from strongly interacting electrons in these CuO2 planes. Substituting a single impurity atom for a copper atom strongly perturbs the surrounding electronic environment and can therefore be used to probe high-temperature superconductivity at the atomic scale. This has provided the motivation for several experimental and theoretical studies. Scanning tunnelling microscopy (STM) is an ideal technique for the study of such effects at the atomic scale, as it has been used very successfully to probe individual impurity atoms in several other systems. Here we use STM to investigate the effects of individual zinc impurity atoms in the high-temperature superconductor Bi2Sr2CaCu2O8+delta. We find intense quasiparticle scattering resonances at the Zn sites, coincident with strong suppression of superconductivity within approximately 15 A of the scattering sites. Imaging of the spatial dependence of the quasiparticle density of states in the vicinity of the impurity atoms reveals the long-sought four-fold symmetric quasiparticle 'cloud' aligned with the nodes of the d-wave superconducting gap which is believed to characterize superconductivity in these materials.

Metallic nonsuperconducting phase and D-wave superconductivity in Zn-substituted La1.85Sr0.15CuO4

Measurements of the resistivity, magnetoresistance, and penetration depth were made on films of La1.85Sr0.15CuO4, with up to 12 at. % of Zn substituted for the Cu. The results show that the quadratic temperature dependence of the inverse square of the penetration depth, indicative of d-wave superconductivity, is not affected by doping. The suppression of superconductivity leads to a metallic nonsuperconducting phase, as expected for a pairing mechanism related to spin fluctuations. The metal-insulator transition occurs in the vicinity of k(F)l approximately 1, and appears to be disorder driven, with the carrier concentration unaffected by doping.

Electrostatic modulation of superconductivity in ultrathin GdBa2Cu3O7-x films

The polarization field of the ferroelectric oxide lead zirconate titanate [Pb(ZrxTi1-x)O3] was used to tune the critical temperature of the hightemperature superconducting cuprate gadolinium barium copper oxide (GdBa2Cu3O7-x) in a reversible, nonvolatile fashion. For slightly underdoped samples, a uniform shift of several Kelvin in the critical temperature was observed, whereas for more underdoped samples, an insulating state was induced. This transition from superconducting to insulating behavior does not involve chemical or crystalline modification of the material.