Kinks, nodal bilayer splitting, and interband scattering in YBa2Cu3O(6+x)

Strong band renormalization and emergent ferromagnetism induced by electron-antiferromagnetic-magnon coupling

The interactions between electrons and antiferromagnetic magnons (AFMMs) are important for a large class of correlated materials. For example, they are the most plausible pairing glues in high-temperature superconductors, such as cuprates and iron-based superconductors. However, unlike electron-phonon interactions (EPIs), clear-cut observations regarding how electron-AFMM interactions (EAIs) affect the band structure are still lacking. Consequently, critical information on the EAIs, such as its strength and doping dependence, remains elusive. Here we directly observe that EAIs induce a kink structure in the band dispersion of Ba_1-xK_xMn₂As₂, and subsequently unveil several key characteristics of EAIs. We found that the coupling constant of EAIs can be as large as 5.4, and it shows strong doping dependence and temperature dependence, all in stark contrast to the behaviors of EPIs. The colossal renormalization of electron bands by EAIs enhances the density of states at Fermi energy, which is likely driving the emergent ferromagnetic state in Ba_1-xK_xMn₂As₂ through a Stoner-like mechanism with mixed itinerant-local character. Our results expand the current knowledge of EAIs, which may facilitate the further understanding of many correlated materials where EAIs play a critical role.

Evolution of electron-boson spectral density in the underdoped region of Bi2Sr(2-x)La(x)CuO6

We use a maximum entropy technique to obtain the electron-boson spectral density from optical scattering rate data across the underdoped region of the Bi2Sr(2-x)La(x)CuO6 (Bi-2201) phase diagram. Our method involves a generalization of previous work which explicitly includes finite temperature and the opening of a pseudogap which modifies the electronic structure. We find that the mass enhancement factor λ associated with the electron-boson spectral density increases monotonically with reduced doping and closer proximity to the Mott antiferromagnetic insulating state. This observation is consistent with increased coupling to the spin fluctuations. At the same time the system has reduced metallicity because of increased pseudogap effects which we model with a reduced effective density of states around the Fermi energy with the range of the modifications in energy set by the pseudogap scale.

Quantum oscillations from nodal bilayer magnetic breakdown in the underdoped high temperature superconductor YBa2Cu3O(6+x)

We report quantum oscillations in underdoped YBa2Cu3O6.56 over a significantly large range in magnetic field extending from ≈24 to 101 T, enabling three well-spaced low frequencies at ≈440±10, 532±2, and 620±10  T to be clearly resolved. We show that a small nodal bilayer coupling that splits a nodal pocket into bonding and antibonding orbits yields a sequence of frequencies, F0-ΔF, F0, and F0+ΔF and accompanying beat pattern similar to that observed experimentally, on invoking magnetic breakdown tunneling at the nodes. The relative amplitudes of the multiple frequencies observed experimentally in quantum oscillation measurements are shown to be reproduced using a value of nodal bilayer gap quantitatively consistent with that measured in photoemission experiments in the underdoped regime.

Origin of the magnetic field induced changes of the transverse plasma mode in the c-axis infrared response of underdoped YBa2Cu3O(7-δ)

We report on results of our theoretical study of magnetic field induced changes of the c-axis infrared response of bilayer cuprate superconductors using the phenomenological multilayer model involving the conductivity of the spacing layers and that of the bilayer units. For H perpendicular to the planes, the local conductivities have been expressed in terms of a two-fluid approximation--as weighted averages of the superconducting state ones and the normal state ones representing contributions of the vortex cores, the weight of the latter increasing linearly with the field. This allows us to reproduce and interpret the fast decrease with increasing H of the well known 400 cm(-1) peak (transverse plasma mode) in the c-axis conductivity, observed by LaForge and co-workers. For the local conductivities of underdoped YBa(2)Cu(3)O(7-δ) with T(c)=58 K reported by Dubroka and co-workers and the fraction of the normal state (T ≈ T(c)) component given by (μ(0)H/25 T), the computed field induced changes of the reflectivity are in quantitative agreement with the data. This suggests that the response at H=0 and T ≈ T(c) is close to that at H=25 T < H(c2) and T ≪ T(c), in accord with theories attributing the above T(c) state to that of a superconductor lacking long-range phase coherence. Also discussed are changes of the response induced by H parallel to the CuO(2) planes.

Superconducting pairing through the spin resonance mode in high-temperature cuprate superconductors

We find that the spin resonance mode mediator scenario can explain important anomalies observed in the superconducting (SC) high-T_{c} cuprates: the famous low energy nodal kink with its doping dependence, the U-shaped form of the SC gap angular dependence, the anomalous form of electron density of states, the high absolute value of the SC gap, and some other unconventional properties.

Emergent collective modes and kinks in electronic dispersions

Recently, it was shown that strongly correlated metallic fermionic systems [Nature Phys. 3, 168 (2007)] generically display kinks in the dispersion of single fermions without the coupling to collective modes. Here we provide compelling evidence that the physical origin of these kinks are emerging internal collective modes of the fermionic systems. In the Hubbard model under study these modes are identified to be spin fluctuations, which are the precursors of the spin excitations in the insulating phase. In spite of their damping, the emergent modes give rise to signatures very similar to features of models including coupling to external modes.

Momentum and energy dependence of the anomalous high-energy dispersion in the electronic structure of high temperature superconductors

Using high-resolution angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy we have studied the momentum and photon energy dependence of the anomalous high-energy dispersion, termed waterfalls, between the Fermi level and 1 eV binding energy in several high-T_{c} superconductors. We observe strong changes of the dispersion between different Brillouin zones and a strong dependence on the photon energy around 75 eV, which we associate with the resonant photoemission at the Cu3p-->3d_{x;{2}-y;{2}} edge. We conclude that the high-energy "waterfall" dispersion results from a strong suppression of the photoemission intensity at the center of the Brillouin zone due to matrix element effects and is, therefore, not an intrinsic feature of the spectral function. This indicates that the new high-energy scale in the electronic structure of cuprates derived from the waterfall-like dispersion may be incorrect.

Dual character of the electronic structure of YBa2Cu4O8: the conduction bands of CuO2 planes and CuO chains

We use microprobe angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy (microARPES) to separately investigate the electronic properties of CuO2 planes and CuO chains in the high temperature superconductor, YBa2Cu4O8. For the CuO2 planes, a two-dimensional (2D) electronic structure is observed and, in contrast to Bi2Sr2CaCu2O8+delta, the bilayer splitting is almost isotropic and 50% larger, which strongly suggests that bilayer splitting has no direct effect on the superconducting properties. In addition, the scattering rate for the bonding band is about 1.5 times stronger than the antibonding band and is independent of momentum. For the CuO chains, the electronic structure is quasi-one-dimensional and consists of a conduction and insulating band. Finally, we find that the conduction electrons are well confined within the planes and chains with a nontrivial hybridization.

Constituents of the quasiparticle spectrum along the nodal direction of high-Tc cuprates

Applying the Kramers-Kronig consistent procedure, developed earlier, we investigate in detail the formation of the quasiparticle spectrum along the nodal direction of high-Tc cuprates. The heavily discussed "70 meV kink" on the renormalized dispersion exhibits a strong temperature and doping dependence when purified from structural effects such as bilayer splitting, diffraction replicas, etc. This dependence is well understood in terms of fermionic and bosonic constituents of the self-energy. The latter follows the evolution of the spin-fluctuation spectrum, emerging below some doping dependent temperature and sharpening below Tc, and is mainly responsible for the formation of the kink in question.

Electronic structure of strongly correlated d-wave superconductors

We study the electronic structure of a strongly correlated d-wave superconducting state. Combining a renormalized mean field theory with direct calculation of matrix elements, we obtain explicit analytical results for the nodal Fermi velocity upsilon(F), the Fermi wave vector k(F), and the momentum distribution n(k) as a function of hole doping in a Gutzwiller projected d-wave superconductor. We calculate the energy dispersion E(k) and spectral weight of the Gutzwiller-Bogoliubov quasiparticles and find that the spectral weight associated with the quasiparticle excitation at the antinodal point shows a nonmonotonic behavior as a function of doping. Results are compared to angle resolved photoemission spectroscopy of the high-temperature superconductors.