10 research outputs found
Evidence of Electron Fractionalization from Photoemission Spectra in the High Temperature Superconductors
In the normal state of the high temperature superconductors
Bi_2Sr_2CaCu_2O_{8+delta} and La_{2-x}Sr_{x}CuO_4, and in the related ``stripe
ordered'' material La_1.25Nd_0.6Sr_0.15CuO_4, there is sharp structure in the
measured single hole spectral function A(k,w) considered as a function of k at
fixed small binding energy w. At the same time, as a function of w at fixed k
on much of the putative Fermi surface, any structure in A(k,w), other than the
Fermi cutoff, is very broad. This is characteristic of the situation in which
there are no stable excitations with the quantum numbers of the electron, as is
the case in the one dimensional electron gas.Comment: Published versio
On the Relationship Between the Critical Temperature and the London Penetration Depth in Layered Organic Superconductors
We present an analysis of previously published measurements of the London
penetration depth of layered organic superconductors. The predictions of the
BCS theory of superconductivity are shown to disagree with the measured zero
temperature, in plane, London penetration depth by up to two orders of
magnitude. We find that fluctuations in the phase of the superconducting order
parameter do not determine the superconducting critical temperature as the
critical temperature predicted for a Kosterlitz--Thouless transition is more
than an order of magnitude greater than is found experimentally for some
materials. This places constraints on theories of superconductivity in these
materials.Comment: 5 pages, 1 figur
How to detect fluctuating order in the high-temperature superconductors
We discuss fluctuating order in a quantum disordered phase proximate to a
quantum critical point, with particular emphasis on fluctuating stripe order.
Optimal strategies for extracting information concerning such local order from
experiments are derived with emphasis on neutron scattering and scanning
tunneling microscopy. These ideas are tested by application to two model
systems - the exactly solvable one dimensional electron gas with an impurity,
and a weakly-interacting 2D electron gas. We extensively review experiments on
the cuprate high-temperature superconductors which can be analyzed using these
strategies. We adduce evidence that stripe correlations are widespread in the
cuprates. Finally, we compare and contrast the advantages of two limiting
perspectives on the high-temperature superconductor: weak coupling, in which
correlation effects are treated as a perturbation on an underlying metallic
(although renormalized) Fermi liquid state, and strong coupling, in which the
magnetism is associated with well defined localized spins, and stripes are
viewed as a form of micro-phase separation. We present quantitative indicators
that the latter view better accounts for the observed stripe phenomena in the
cuprates.Comment: 43 pages, 11 figures, submitted to RMP; extensively revised and
greatly improved text; one new figure, one new section, two new appendices
and more reference
Angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy of the cuprate superconductors
This paper reviews the most recent ARPES results on the cuprate
superconductors and their insulating parent and sister compounds, with the
purpose of providing an updated summary of the extensive literature in this
field. The low energy excitations are discussed with emphasis on some of the
most relevant issues, such as the Fermi surface and remnant Fermi surface, the
superconducting gap, the pseudogap and d-wave-like dispersion, evidence of
electronic inhomogeneity and nano-scale phase separation, the emergence of
coherent quasiparticles through the superconducting transition, and many-body
effects in the one-particle spectral function due to the interaction of the
charge with magnetic and/or lattice degrees of freedom. The first part of the
paper introduces photoemission spectroscopy in the context of strongly
interacting systems, along with an update on the state-of-the-art
instrumentation. The second part provides a brief overview of the scientific
issues relevant to the investigation of the low energy electronic structure by
ARPES. The rest of the paper is devoted to the review of experimental results
from the cuprates and the discussion is organized along conceptual lines:
normal-state electronic structure, interlayer interaction, superconducting gap,
coherent superconducting peak, pseudogap, electron self energy and collective
modes. Within each topic, ARPES data from the various copper oxides are
presented.Comment: Reviews of Modern Physics, in press. A HIGH-QUALITY pdf file is
available at http://www.physics.ubc.ca/~damascel/RMP_ARPES.pd