Multigap superconductivity in doped p-type cuprates

Andreev and tunneling spectroscopy studies of Bi₂Sr₂Ca _{n ? 1}Cu _n O_{2n + 4 + δ}, HgBa₂Ca _{n ? 1}Cu _n O_{2n + 2 + δ} and Tl₂Ba₂Ca _{n ? 1}Cu_{2n + 4 + δ} have shown that superconductivity in single-layer (n = 1) and two-layer (n = 2) phases has a single-gap character. Qualitatively different results were obtained for three-layer phases. In doped p-type Hg-1223, Bi-2223, and Tl-2223 samples two (or three) superconducting gaps were observed. The existence of multigap superconductivity in superconducting cuprates with n ≥ 3 is explained by a difference in doping levels of outer (OP) and internal (IP) CuO₂ planes.     

Terahertz phonon spectroscopy of doped superconducting cuprates

Facts are presented evidencing a strong electron-phonon interaction in doped BSCCO superconductors. A pronounced fine structure in dI/dV characteristics of Josephson junctions has been observed which is caused by interaction of AC Josephson current with Raman-active optical phonon modes. “Quantization” of the “gap” voltage for natural nanosteps on the cryogenically cleaved surfaces of BSCCO proves the existence of the intrinsic Josephson effect. A sharp extra structure in the current-voltage characteristics of nanosteps is attributed to the presence of the extended van Hove singularity.     

On the stability of hole crystals in layered cuprates

Recent STM measurements have revealed the existence of periodic charge modulations at the surface of certain cuprate superconductors. Here we show that the observed patterns are compatible with the formation of a three-dimensional crystal of doped holes, with space correlations extending between different Cu-O layers. This puts severe constraints on the dynamical stability of the crystallised hole structure, resulting in a close relationship between the periodicity of the electronic modulation and the interlayer distance.Received: 14 June 2004, Published online: 23 December 2004PACS: 74.72.-h Cuprate superconductors (high-T _c and insulating parent compounds) - 71.30. + h Metal-insulator transitions and other electronic transitions - 71.38.-k Polarons and electron-phonon interactions     

Transitions from hole to presumed electron doping in 123 cuprates

Transitions from the hole doped to what we consider to be cell volume expanded-electron doped states are observed within RBa₂Cu₃O_y on equilibrating reducing preparations near y=6.5.     

Spectral properties of doped bilayer cuprates at finite temperatures

Recently, angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy measurements on Bi₂Sr₂CaCu₂O_8+δ, which possesses two CuO₂ layers in the same unit cell, have yielded very interesting results. For the overdoped samples, these results show a splitting of electronic states near k=(π, 0) point of Brillioun zone. On the other hand, no splitting is observed in the underdoped samples. In view of this, the detailed studies including the doping and temperature dependence of the spectral properties become desirable. In this paper, we consider cuprates possessing two CuO₂ layers per unit cell. Each layer in the system is described by the t-t ¹-J model and the two layers are coupled via an intrabilayer hopping term (t _⊥) and an intrabilayer exchange coupling (J _⊥). A self-consistent perturbation approach is used to calculate the electronic spectral function for different values of hole density, hole momentum and temperature. We find that the imaginary part of the self energy is strongly momentum dependent which contradicts the suggestion that the Fermi surface of cuprates may be described by marginal Fermi liquid theory. We have calculated the spectral function for various values of intrabilayer parameters t _⊥ and J _⊥. For larger values of intrabilayer interactions we observe the splitting in the quasi-particle peak at k=(π, 0) which is in agreement with the recent observations. The splitting is also found to be sensitive to the hole concentration as well as the temperature of the system. We have also discussed the reasons why the splitting is absent in underdoped bilayer cuprates at low temperature.     

Transitions from hole to presumed electron doping in 123 cuprates

Transitions from the hole doped to what we consider to be cell volume expanded-electron doped states are observed within RBa₂Cu₃O_y on equilibrating reducing preparations near y=6.5.     

Doped Mott insulators are insulators: hole localization in the cuprates

We demonstrate that a Mott insulator lightly doped with holes is still an insulator at low temperature even without disorder. Hole localization obtains because the chemical potential lies in a pseudogap which has a vanishing density of states at zero temperature. The energy scale for the pseudogap is set by the nearest-neighbor singlet-triplet splitting. As this energy scale vanishes if transitions, virtual or otherwise, to the upper Hubbard band are not permitted, the fundamental length scale in the pseudogap regime is the average distance between doubly occupied sites. Consequently, the pseudogap is tied to the noncommutativity of the two limits U-->infinity (U the on-site Coulomb repulsion) and L -->infinity (the system size).     

Mott gap excitations and resonant inelastic x-ray scattering in doped cuprates

Predictions are made for the momentum- and carrier-dependent degradation of the Mott gap upon doping in high-T(c) cuprates as would be observed in Cu K-edge resonant inelastic x-ray scattering (RIXS). The two-dimensional Hubbard model with second- and third-nearest-neighbor hopping terms has been studied by numerical exact diagonalization. Special emphasis is placed on the particle-hole asymmetry of the Mott gap excitations. We argue that the Mott gap excitations observed by RIXS are significantly influenced by the interaction between charge carriers and antiferromagnetic correlations.     

Nonbonding oxygen holes and spinless scenario of magnetic response in doped cuprates

Both theoretical considerations and experimental data point to a more complicated nature of the valence hole states in doped cuprates than is predicted by the Zhang-Rice model. Actually, we deal with a competition of a conventional hybrid \({\text{Cu}} {\text{3}}d-{\text{O}} {\text{2}}p b{1g} \propto d{x^2-y^2} \) state and purely oxygen nonbonding state with e _u x, y∝p _{x, y} symmetry. The latter reveals a nonquenched Ising-like orbital moment that gives rise to a novel spinless purely oxygen scenario of the magnetic response in doped cuprates with the oxygen localized orbital magnetic moments of the order of tenths of Bohr magneton. We consider the mechanism of ^{63, 65}Cu-O 2p transferred orbital hyperfine interactions due to the mixing of the oxygen O2p orbitals with Cu3p semicore orbitals. Quantitative estimates point to a large magnitude of the respective contributions to both the local field and electric field gradient, and their correlated character.     

Numerical exact diagonalization study on a phonon-assisted hole paring in the high-Tc cuprates

The numerical diagonalization study on an extended t ? J Holstein model, including the renormalization of the hole hopping t due to the phonon effect indicates that the breathing vibration of the in-plane oxygen can enhance the hole pairing for some parameters.     

Optimal thickness of hole transport layer in doped OLEDs

Current-voltage (I–V) and electroluminescence (EL) characteristics of organic light-emitting devices with N,N’-Di-[(1-naphthalenyl)-N,N’-diphenyl]-(1,1’-biphenyl)-4,4’-diamine (NPB) of various thicknesses as the hole transport layer, and tris(8-hydroxyquinoline)aluminum (Alq₃) selectively doped with 4-(dicyanomethylene)-2-methyl-6-(p-dimethylaminostyryl)-4H-pyran (DCM) as the electron transport layer, have been investigated. A trapped charge induced band bend model is proposed to explain the I–V characteristics. It is suggested that space charge changes the injection barrier and therefore influences the electron injection process in addition to the carrier transport process. Enhanced external quantum efficiency of the devices due to the electron blocking effect of an inserted NPB layer is observed. The optimal thickness of the NPB layer is experimentally determined to be 12±3 nm in doped devices, a value different from that for undoped devices, which is attributed to the electron trap effect of DCM molecules. This is consistent with the result that the proportion of Alq₃ luminescence in the total electroluminescence (EL) spectra increases with NPB thickness up to 12 nm under a fixed bias. PACS 72.80.Le; 85.60.Jb     

Skyrmion-approach study of the magnetic properties and spin kinetics of weakly doped cuprates

The evolution of the magnetic and kinetic properties of quasi-two-dimensional cuprates has been studied upon doping CuO₂ planes with electron holes. The notion of thermal skyrmions and hole-induced skyrmions was used to determine the spin-correlation length and nuclear relaxation rate as functions of temperature and hole concentration.     

Enhanced pairing in doped quantum magnets with frustrated hole motion

Evidence for strong pairing at arbitrarily small J/t is provided in a t-J model on the checkerboard lattice for a specific sign of the hopping amplitude. Destructive quantum interferences suppress Nagaoka ferromagnetism when J/t-->0 and drastically reduce coherent hole motion in the fluctuating singlet background. It is shown that, by pairing in various orbital symmetry channels, holes can benefit from a large gain of kinetic energy.     

Extraction of tight binding parameters from in-situ ARPES on the continuously doped surface of cuprates

Recently we developed a technique of ozone/vacuum annealing to continuously change the doping level of the surface of Bi_2Sr_2CaCu_2O_(8+x)and measured a nearly whole superconducting dome on one surface by in-situ angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy [arXiv: 1805.06450]. Here we study the evolution of the electronic structures of Bi_2Sr_2CaCu_2O_(8+)xusing this technique together with tight binding fits. The tight binding parameters are extracted to study their evolution with doping.     

Spin twists, domain walls, and the cluster spin-glass phase of weakly doped cuprates

We examine the role of spin twists in the formation of domain walls, often called stripes, by focusing on the spin textures found in the cluster spin glass phases of and . To this end, we derive improved analytic expressions for the spin distortions produced by a frustrating bond, both near the core region of the bond and in the far field, and then derive an improved expression for interaction energies between such bonds. We critique our analytical theory by comparison to numerical solutions of this problem and find excellent agreement. By looking at collections of small numbers of such bonds localized in some region of a lattice, we demonstrate the stability of small “clusters” of spins, each cluster having its own orientation of its antiferromagnetic order parameter. Then, we display a domain wall corresponding to spin twists between clusters of locally ordered spins showing how spin twists can serve as a mechanism for stripe formation. Since the charges are localized in this model, we emphasize that these domain walls are produced in a situation for which no kinetic energy is present in the problem. Received 10 January 2000     

Coexistence of magnetism and superconductivity in the hole doped FeAs-based superconducting compound

The magnetic and superconducting properties of the Sm-doped FeAs-based superconducting compound were investigated under wide ranges of temperature and magnetic field. After the systematical magnetic ion substitution, the superconducting transition temperature decreases with increasing magnetic moment. The hysteresis loop of the La_0.87?xSm_xSr_0.13FeAsO sample shows a superconducting hysteresis and a paramagnetic background signal. The paramagnetic signal is mainly attributed to the Sm moments. The experiment demonstrates that the coexistence of magnetism and superconductivity in the hole doped FeAs-based superconducting compounds is possible. Unlike the electron doped FeAs-based superconducting compounds SmFeAsOF, the hole doped superconductivity is degraded by the substitution of La by Sm. The hole-doped and electron-doped sides are not symmetric.