Nodal superconductivity and antinodal pseudogap in cuprate superconductors

According to recent experimental findings the leading pairing resides in the nodal (FS arcs) momentum region of hole doped cuprates. The pseudogap is an antinodal feature. A corresponding multiband model of the electronic background evolving with doping serves the usually presented phase diagram. The pairing is due by the pair-transfer between overlapping nodal defect (polaron) band and the itinerant band. A bare gap vanishing with extended doping between the antinodal defect subband and the itinerant band top leads to the formation of the pseudogap as a perturbative band-structure effect. The calculated behaviour of two superconducting gaps and of the pseudogap on the whole doping scale is in qualitative agreement with the observations. Arguments to include cuprates into the class of multiband-multigap superconductors are given by these results.     

Electronic Raman response in electron-doped cuprate superconductors

The electronic Raman response in the electron-doped cuprate superconductors is studied based on the t-t^′-J model. It is shown that although the domelike shape of the doping dependent peak energy in the B2g symmetry is a common feature for both electron-doped and hole-doped cuprate superconductors, there are pronounced deviations from a cubic response in the B1g channel and a linear response in the B2g channel for the electron-doped case in the low energies. It is also shown that these pronounced deviations are mainly caused by a nonmonotonic d-wave gap in the electron-doped cuprate superconductors.     

浅析电子型掺杂铜氧化物超导体的退火过程

铜氧化物高温超导体的发现, 打破了基于电声子相互作用BCS理论所预言的超导转变温度极限, 掀开了高温超导材料探索和高温超导机理研究的序幕. 根据掺杂类型的不同, 铜氧化物超导材料可以分为空穴型掺杂和电子型掺杂两类. 受限于样品, 对电子型掺杂铜氧化物的研究工作远少于空穴型掺杂体系. 本文简要回顾有关电子型掺杂铜氧化物超导体近期研究成果, 通过对比电子型掺杂和空穴型掺杂铜氧化物的相图来阐明电子型掺杂铜氧化物的研究对探索高温超导机理的必要性, 并特别针对电子型掺杂样品制备中的关键因素“退火过程”展开讨论. 结合课题组最新实验结果和相关实验报道我们发现电子型掺杂铜氧化物超导体在制备过程中除受到温度和氧分压的影响外, 退火效果还受到界面应力的强烈调制. 在综合考虑样品生长过程中温度、气氛及应力等多种因素的基础上, 探讨了“保护退火”方法导致电子型体系化学掺杂相图变化的起因.     

Possible higher temperature superconductivity in the modulation-doped superlattice structure of cuprate superconductors

We design a new structure for a cuprate superconductor indicating the possibility of higher temperature superconductivity using our recently proposed composite fermions theory. It is constructed with modulation-doped superlattice structures, which are often used in the design of semiconductor superlattice devices. The superconductive critical temperature ($T_c$) was calculated in the superlattice structures of the superconductor in which the optimal doped CuO₂ layer was sandwiched between two less-doped CuO₂ layers. We find that if these structures could be realized in a cuprate superconductor such as Bi₂Sr₂Ca₂Cu₃O₁₀ or HgBa₂Ca₂Cu₃O₉, the highest $T_c$ could attain the level of 300 K at atmospheric pressure.     

Electron-phonon coupling in cuprate and iron-based superconductors revealed by Raman scattering

Electron-phonon coupling （EPC） in cuprate and iron-based superconducting systems, as revealed by Raman scat- tering, is briefly reviewed. We introduce how to extract the coupling information through phonon lineshape. Then we discuss the strength of EPC in different high-temperature superconductor （HTSC） systems and possible factors affecting the strength. A comparative study between Raman phonon theories and experiments allows us to gain insight into some crucial electronic properties, especially superconductivity. Finally, we summarize and compare EPC in the two existing HTSC systems, and discuss what role it may play in the HTSC.     

Charge order driven by Fermi-arc instability and its connection with pseudogap in cuprate superconductors

The recently discovered charge order is a generic feature of cuprate superconductors, however, its microscopic origin remains debated. Within the framework of the fermion-spin theory, the nature of charge order in the pseudogap phase and its evolution with doping are studied by taking into account the electron self-energy (then the pseudogap) effect. It is shown that the antinodal region of the electron Fermi surface is suppressed by the electron self-energy, and then the low-energy electron excitations occupy the disconnected Fermi arcs located around the nodal region. In particular, the charge order state is driven by the Fermi-arc instability, with a characteristic wave vector corresponding to the hot spots of the Fermi arcs rather than the antinodal nesting vector. Moreover, although the Fermi arc increases its length as a function of doping, the charge order wave vector reduces almost linearity with the increase of doping. The theory also indicates that the Fermi arc, charge order and pseudogap in cuprate superconductors are intimately related to each other, and all of them emanates from the electron self-energy due to the interaction between electrons by the exchange of spin excitations.     

Quasiparticle scattering interference in electron-doped cuprate superconductors

By considering the nonmonotonic d-wave gap effect, the energy and momentum dependence of quasiparticle scattering interference is studied in the presence of a single impurity. It is shown that the pattern of the quasiparticle scattering peaks in the full Brillouin zone of electron-doped cuprate superconductors is very different from that in the hole-doped case described by the Octet model. This difference is the result of the nonmonotonic d-wave superconducting gap in the electron-doped case. As the energy increases, the position of the local peaks in the Brillouin zone moves rapidly. In particular, the characteristic peaks of the electron-doped cuprate superconductors appear between the antinodal and nodal directions, unlike in the hole-doped case.     

Synthesis and properties of Sr-free Bi cuprate superconductors

Both the oxygen content and T^onset _c of the Bi₂Ca_2.5(Ln, Ln⁺)_0.5Cu₂O _y system monotonically increases as the mean ionic radius of (Ln, Ln⁺) increases. The structural modulations in all of the samples are almost commensurate with a period equal to 9b. In Bi_2-xPbCa_2.5Nd_0.5Cu₂O _y , T^onset _c decreases with increasing Pb concentration. In order to investigate the effect of post annealing using a hot isostatic press (HIP), Bi₂Ca_2.5La_0.25Pr_0.25Cu₂O _y was processed under different HIP conditions. This result suggested that HIP annealing causes a phase change from the 232 structure to the 221 structure.     

电子型掺杂铜氧化物超导体准粒子激发谱研究

文中工作采用t-t′-t″-J模型研究了电子型掺杂铜氧化物超导体在超导序和反铁磁序共存情况下的准粒子激发谱,分别计算了在欠掺杂区、最佳掺杂区和过掺杂区的谱权重,计算结果与角分辨光电子谱实验结果符合较好.     

A precursor superconductivity approach to magnetic field effects in the pseudogap phase

We demonstrate that the observed dependences of T_c and T^∗ on small magnetic fields can be readily understood in a precursor superconductivity approach to the pseudogap phase. In this approach, the presence of a pseudogap at T_c (but not at T^∗) and the associated suppression of the density of states lead to very different sensitivities to pair-breaking perturbations for the two temperatures. Our semi-quantitative results address the puzzling experimental observation that the coherence length ξ is weakly dependent on hole concentration x throughout most of the phase diagram. We present our results in a form which can be compared with the recent experiments of Shibauchi et al. and argue that orbital effects contribute in an important way to the H dependence of T^∗.     

Superconductivity and pseudogap states studied by microwave conductivity measurements of λ-(BEDT-TSF)2GaCl4

We have investigated the microwave response at 45 GHz in an organic superconductor λ-(BEDT-TSF)₂GaCl₄ with T_c = 4.8 K. We determine the μ₀H_c2–T phase diagram from microwave loss and find that the superconducting state is in the pure limit (l/ξ_GL  10). Although the real part of the complex conductivity (=σ₁ + iσ₂) does not show a coherence peak just below T_c, the London penetration depth completely saturates at low temperatures down to T/T_c = 0.2, which may provide an evidence for a conventional s-wave pairing. In the metallic state below about 50 K, (parallel to the c-axis) deviates downward from , while σ₂, which should be zero in a conventional metal, increases exponentially toward T_c. In spite of the fact that the Hagen–Rubens limit is well satisfied as far as the dc conductivity is concerned, a Drude model is unable to explain the large positive σ₂. In order to explain such anomalies in the metallic state, we propose a possible existence of so-called a pseudogap near a Fermi level. The anomalous increase of the positive σ₂ may be attributed to an appearance of pre-formed electron pairs in the pseudogap state. This appearance can be regarded as a precursor to the superconducting transition. Such a precursory phenomenon has been observed also in the isostructural FeCl₄ salt with the anomalous metallic states, which shows a negative σ₂ in contrast to the GaCl₄ salt. Just the opposite of ground states in between the GaCl₄ and FeCl₄ salts may result in the contrasting anomalous metallic states with different precursory phenomena with opposite signs of σ₂.     

A model of the T-dependent pseudogap and its competition with superconductivity in copper oxides

Results for pseudogaps are obtained from a band model, where the stability of the gap depends on the amplitudes of vibrational displacements, or magnetic moments, and their coupling to electrons. A one-particle gap is favored by normal thermal excitations of phonons or spin waves. Another gap can be generated by spontaneous waves at lower temperature, if the electronic energy gain overcomes the elastic/magnetic energy needed for increased amplitudes of the oscillations. This state is characterized by charge or spin density waves. The pseudogap has many features in common with the superconducting gap, and the model lends support to the interpretation that the pseudogap is a precursor of, and competes with, superconducting pairing.     

高温超导体组合薄膜和相图表征高通量方法

铜氧化物超导体和铁基高温超导体是已知的两类高温超导体,研究高温超导机理是如今超导领域最具有挑战性的前沿课题.构建高温超导的高维精确相图、寻找决定超导转变温度的关键物理量可以为高温超导机理做好实验铺垫.对于铜氧化物高温超导体,多种自由度的相互关联与耦合使其相图呈现出复杂性与多样性.现有的研究方法在构建高维“全息”相图及获取定量化物理规律等方面面临着难以克服的困难,而材料的高通量制备与表征技术可以在相图空间实现参量的线扫描甚至面扫描,有望快速建立可靠的高温超导高维相图和高温超导关键参量数据库,并从中提取重要的统计物理规律.本文从阳离子掺杂、母体氧掺杂、双电层晶体管(静电场/电化学)、磁场等几个调控维度,回顾了主要基于输运手段获得的铜氧化物电子态相图,介绍了基于脉冲激光沉积技术和分子束外延技术的组合薄膜生长方法以及与之匹配的跨尺度选区输运测量技术,展示了高通量技术在高温超导研究中的初步应用.高通量实验技术与超导研究结合,逐步形成了新兴的高通量超导研究范式,将在构建高维精确相图、突破高温超导机理、推进超导材料实用化等方面发挥不可替代的作用.     

Relevance of 3d multiplet structure in nickelate and cuprate superconductors

The recent discovery of superconductivity in doped rare-earth infinite-layer nickelates RNiO_2, R = Nd, Pr as a new family of unconventional superconductors has inspired extensive research on their intriguing properties. One of the major motivation to explore the nickelate superconductors originated from their similarities with and differences from the cuprate superconductors, which have been extensively studied over the last decades but are still lack of the thorough understanding.In this short review, we summarized our recent investigation of the relevance of Ni/Cu-3 d multiplet structure on the hole doped spin states in cuprate and recently discovered nickelate superconductors via an impurity model incorporating all the 3d orbitals. Further plausible explorations to be conducted are outlined as well. Our presented work provides an insightful framework for the investigation of the strongly correlated electronic systems in terms of the multiplet structure of transition metal compounds.     

Doping dependence of charge order in electron-doped cuprate superconductors

Abstract

In the recent studies of the unconventional physics in cuprate superconductors, one of the central issues is the interplay between charge order and superconductivity. Here the mechanism of the charge-order formation in the electron-doped cuprate superconductors is investigated based on the t-J model. The experimentally observed momentum dependence of the electron quasiparticle scattering rate is qualitatively reproduced, where the scattering rate is highly anisotropic in momentum space, and is intriguingly related to the charge-order gap. Although the scattering strength appears to be weakest at the hot spots, the scattering in the antinodal region is stronger than that in the nodal region, which leads to the original electron Fermi surface is broken up into the Fermi pockets and their coexistence with the Fermi arcs located around the nodal region. In particular, this electron Fermi surface instability drives the charge-order correlation, with the charge-order wave vector that matches well with the wave vector connecting the hot spots, as the charge-order correlation in the hole-doped counterparts. However, in a striking contrast to the hole-doped case, the charge-order wave vector in the electron-doped side increases in magnitude with the electron doping. The theory also shows the existence of a quantitative link between the single-electron fermiology and the collective response of the electron density.