Anomalous momentum dependence of the superconducting coherence peak and its relation to the pseudogap of La1.85Sr0.15CuO4

Superconducting pairing and the pseudogap in the nematic dynamical stripe phase of La2-xSrxCuO4

Fully absorption coefficient corrected Raman spectra were obtained in La2-xSrxCuO4. The B1g spectra have a Fleury-Loudon type two-magnon peak (resonant term) whose energy decreases from 3180 cm(-1) (394 meV) to 440 cm(-1) (55 meV) on increasing the carrier density from x = 0 to 0.25, while the B2g spectra have a 1000-3500 cm(-1) (124-434 meV) hump (hill) whose lower-edge energy increases from x = 0 to 0.115 and then stays constant to x = 0.25. The B2g hump is assigned to the electronic scattering (non-resonant term) of the spectral function with magnetic self-energy. The completely different carrier density dependence arises from anisotropic magnetic excitations of spin-charge stripes. The B1g spectra were assigned to the sum of k ∥  and k⊥ stripe excitations and the B2g spectra to k⊥ stripe excitations according to the calculation by Seibold and Lorenzana (2006 Phys. Rev. B 73 144515). The k ∥  and k⊥ stripe excitations in fluctuating spin-charge stripes were separately detected for the first time. The appearance of only k⊥ stripe excitations in the electronic scattering arises from the charge hopping perpendicular to the stripe. This is the same direction as the Burgers vector of the edge dislocation in metal. The successive charge hopping in the Burgers vector direction across the charge stripes may cause Cooper pairs as predicted by Zaanen et al (2004 Ann. Phys. 310 181). Indeed, this is supported by the experimental fact that the superconducting coherent length coincides with the inter-charge stripe distance in the wide carrier density range. The one-directional charge hopping perpendicular to the stripe causes the flat Fermi surface and the pseudogap near (π,0) and (0,π), but the states around (π/2,π/2) cannot be produced. The low-energy Raman scattering disclosed that the electronic states at the Fermi arc around (π/2,π/2) are coupled to the A1g soft phonon of the tetragonal-orthorhombic phase transition. This suggests that the Fermi arc is produced by the electron-phonon interaction. All the present Raman data suggest that Cooper pairs are formed at moving edge dislocations of dynamical charge stripes.

Universal features in the photoemission spectroscopy of high-temperature superconductors

The energy gap for electronic excitations is one of the most important characteristics of the superconducting state, as it directly reflects the pairing of electrons. In the copper-oxide high-temperature superconductors (HTSCs), a strongly anisotropic energy gap, which vanishes along high-symmetry directions, is a clear manifestation of the d-wave symmetry of the pairing. There is, however, a dramatic change in the form of the gap anisotropy with reduced carrier concentration (underdoping). Although the vanishing of the gap along the diagonal to the square Cu-O bond directions is robust, the doping dependence of the large gap along the Cu-O directions suggests that its origin might be different from pairing. It is thus tempting to associate the large gap with a second-order parameter distinct from superconductivity. We use angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy to show that the two-gap behavior and the destruction of well-defined electronic excitations are not universal features of HTSCs, and depend sensitively on how the underdoped materials are prepared. Depending on cation substitution, underdoped samples either show two-gap behavior or not. In contrast, many other characteristics of HTSCs, such as the dome-like dependence of on doping, long-lived excitations along the diagonals to the Cu-O bonds, and an energy gap at the Brillouin zone boundary that decreases monotonically with doping while persisting above (the pseudogap), are present in all samples, irrespective of whether they exhibit two-gap behavior or not. Our results imply that universal aspects of high- superconductivity are relatively insensitive to differences in the electronic states along the Cu-O bond directions.

Kohn singularity and Kohn anomaly in conventional superconductors--role of pairing mechanism

We present a theoretical analysis of the Kohn singularity and Kohn anomaly in the superconducting phase of a three-dimensional metallic system. We show that a phonon mechanism-based Cooper pairing in a Fermi liquid metal can lead to these phenomena quite naturally. The results are discussed against the background of some recent experimental findings.

Insensitivity of the superconducting gap to variations in the critical temperature of Zn-substituted Bi2Sr2CaCu2O(8+δ) superconductors

The phase diagram of the superconducting high-T(c) cuprates is governed by two energy scales: T*, the temperature below which a gap is opened in the excitation spectrum, and T(c), the superconducting transition temperature. The way these two energy scales are reflected in the low-temperature energy gap is being intensively debated. Using Zn substitution and carefully controlled annealing we prepared a set of samples having the same T* but different T(c)'s, and measured their gap using angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy (ARPES). We show that T(c) is not related to the gap shape or size, but it controls the size of the coherence peak at the gap edge.

Observation of two Andreev-like energy scales in La2-xSrxCuO4 superconductor-normal-metal-superconductor junctions

Conductance spectra measurements of highly transparent junctions made of superconducting La2-xSrxCuO4 electrodes and a nonsuperconducting La1.65Sr0.35CuO4 barrier are reported. At low temperatures below Tc, these junctions have two prominent Andreev-like conductance peaks with clear steps at energies Δ1 and Δ2 with Δ2>2Δ1. No such peaks appear above Tc. The doping dependence at 2 K shows that both Δ1 and Δ2 scale roughly as Tc. Δ1 is identified as the superconducting energy gap, while a few scenarios are proposed as for the origin of Δ2.

Universal versus material-dependent two-gap behaviors of the high-Tc cuprate superconductors: angle-resolved photoemission study of La2-xSrxCuO4

We have investigated the doping and temperature dependences of the pseudogap and superconducting gap in the single-layer cuprate La2-xSrxCuO4 by angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy. The results clearly exhibit two distinct energy and temperature scales, namely, the gap around (pi, 0) of magnitude Delta* and the gap around the node characterized by the d-wave order parameter Delta0. In comparison with Bi2212 having higher Tc's, Delta0 is smaller, while Delta* and T* are similar. This result suggests that Delta* and T* are approximately material-independent properties of a single CuO2 plane, in contrast to the material-dependent Delta0, representing the pairing strength.

Evolution of a pairing-induced pseudogap from the superconducting gap of (Bi,Pb)2Sr2CuO6

We have performed an ultrahigh-resolution angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy study of slightly overdoped (Bi,Pb)2Sr2CuO6 to elucidate the origin of the pseudogap. By using a newly developed xenon-plasma light source, we determined the comprehensive momentum and temperature dependencies of the superconducting gap and the pseudogap. We found that the antinodal pseudogap persists far above the superconducting transition temperature and is smoothly connected to the nodal gap. The characteristic temperature of the pseudogap scales well with the superconducting gap size irrespective of the momentum location. The present experimental results point to the pairing origin of the pseudogap.

Temperature dependence of the gap size near the brillouin-zone nodes of HgBa2CuO4+delta superconductors

Although more than 20 years have passed, the identification of the superconducting order parameter in cuprates is still under debate. Here, we show that the gap size near the nodes is a good candidate for the order parameter: it scales with the critical temperature Tc over a wide doping range and displays a significant temperature dependence below Tc in both the underdoped and the overdoped regimes. In contrast, the gap size at the antinodes does not scale with Tc in the underdoped regime and appears to be controlled by the pseudogap which persists below Tc.

Superconducting coherence peak in the electronic excitations of a single-layer Bi2Sr1.6La0.4CuO6+delta cuprate superconductor

Angle resolved photoemission spectroscopy study is reported on a high quality optimally doped Bi2Sr1.6La0.4CuO6+delta high-Tc superconductor. In the antinodal region with a maximal d-wave gap, the symbolic superconducting coherence peak, which has been widely observed in multi-CuO2-layer cuprate superconductors, is unambiguously observed in a single-layer system. The associated peak-dip separation is just about 19 meV, which is much smaller than its counterparts in multilayered compounds, but correlates with the energy scales of spin excitations in single-layer cuprates.

Coherent d-wave superconducting gap in underdoped La2-xSrxCuO4 by angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy

We present angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy data on moderately underdoped La1.855Sr0.145CuO4 at temperatures below and above the superconducting transition temperature. Unlike previous studies of this material, we observe sharp spectral peaks along the entire underlying Fermi surface in the superconducting state. These peaks trace out an energy gap that follows a simple d-wave form, with a maximum superconducting gap of 14 meV. Our results are consistent with a single gap picture for the cuprates. Furthermore our data on the even more underdoped sample La1.895Sr0.105CuO4 also show sharp spectral peaks, even at the antinode, with a maximum superconducting gap of 26 meV.

Bond stretching phonon softening and kinks in the angle-resolved photoemission spectra of optimally doped Bi2Sr1.6La0.4Cu2O6+delta superconductors

We report the first measurement of the Cu-O bond stretching phonon dispersion in optimally doped Bi2Sr1.6La0.4Cu2O6+delta using inelastic x-ray scattering. We found a softening of this phonon at q=( approximately 0.25,0,0) from 76 to 60 meV, similar to the one reported in other cuprates. A comparison with angle-resolved photoemission data on the same sample revealed an excellent agreement in terms of energy and momentum between the angle-resolved photoemission nodal kink and the soft part of the bond stretching phonon. Indeed, we find that the momentum space where a 63+/-5 meV kink is observed can be connected with a vector q=(xi,0,0) with xi > or =0.22, corresponding exactly to the soft part of the bond stretching phonon.

Energy gaps and Kohn anomalies in elemental superconductors

The momentum and temperature dependence of the lifetimes of acoustic phonons in the elemental superconductors lead and niobium were determined by resonant spin-echo spectroscopy with neutrons. In both elements, the superconducting energy gap extracted from these measurements was found to converge with sharp anomalies originating from Fermi-surface nesting (Kohn anomalies) at low temperatures. The results indicate electron many-body correlations beyond the standard theoretical framework for conventional superconductivity. A possible mechanism is the interplay between superconductivity and spin- or charge-density-wave fluctuations, which may induce dynamical nesting of the Fermi surface.