Electronic Phase Diagram of High-T_c Cuprate Superconductors from a Mapping of the In-Plane Resistivity Curvature

We propose that Resistivity Curvature Mapping (RCM) based on the in-plane resistivity data is a useful way to objectively draw an electronic phase diagrams of high-T_c cuprates, where various crossovers are important. In particular, the pseudogap crossover line can be conveniently determined by RCM. We show experimental phase diagrams obtained by RCM for Bi_{2}Sr_{2-z}La_{z}CuO_{6+\delta}, La_{2-x}Sr_{x}CuO_{4}, and YBa_{2}Cu_{3}O_{y}, and demonstrate the universal nature of the pseudogap crossover. Intriguingly, the electronic crossover near optimum doping depicted by RCM appears to occur rather abruptly, suggesting that the quantum critical regime, if exists, must be very narrow.Comment: 4 pages, 3 color figures, final version accepted for publication in Phys. Rev. Let

Doping evolution of the electronic specific heat coefficient in slightly-doped La2-xSrxCuO4 single crystals

Detailed doping dependence of the electronic specific heat coefficient gamma is studied for La2-xSrxCuO4 (LSCO) single crystals in the slightly-doped regime. We find that gamma systematically increases with doping, and furthermore, even for the samples in the antiferromagnetic (AF) regime, gamma already acquires finite value and grows with x. This suggests that finite electronic density of states (DOS) is created in the AF regime where the transport shows strong localization at low temperatures, and this means the system is not a real insulator with a clear gap even though it still keeps long range AF order.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figures, accepted for publication in Journal of Physics: Conference Series (LT25 proceeding

Magic Doping Fractions in High-Temperature Superconductors

We report hole-doping dependence of the in-plane resistivity \rho_{ab} in a cuprate superconductor La_{2-x}Sr_{x}CuO_{4}, carefully examined using a series of high-quality single crystals. Our detailed measurements find a tendency towards charge ordering at particular rational hole doping fractions of 1/16, 3/32, 1/8, and 3/16. This observation appears to suggest a specific form of charge order and is most consistent with the recent theoretical prediction of the checkerboard-type ordering of the Cooper pairs at rational doping fractions x = (2m+1)/2^n, with integers m and n.Comment: 5 pages, 3 figure, resubmitted to Phys. Rev. Lett. The Tc vs. x diagram has been added and the discussions have been modified to focus more on the experimental result

Evolution of the Hall Coefficient and the Peculiar Electronic Structure of the Cuprate Superconductors

Although the Hall coefficient R_H is an informative transport property of metals and semiconductors, its meaning in the cuprate superconductors has been ambiguous because of its unusual characteristics. Here we show that a systematic study of R_H in La_{2-x}Sr_{x}CuO_{4} single crystals over a wide doping range establishes a qualitative understanding of its peculiar evolution, which turns out to reflect a two-component nature of the electronic structure caused by an unusual development of the Fermi surface recently uncovered by photoemission experiments.Comment: 4 pages, 5 figures, final version appeared in Phys. Rev. Let