Resistivity phase diagram of cuprates revisited

The phase diagram of the cuprate superconductors has posed a formidable scientific challenge for more than three decades. This challenge is perhaps best exemplified by the need to understand the normal-state charge transport as the system evolves from Mott insulator to Fermi-liquid metal with doping. Here we report a detailed analysis of the temperature (T) and doping (p) dependence of the planar resistivity of simple-tetragonal HgBa$_2$CuO$_{4+\delta}$ (Hg1201), the single-CuO$_2$-layer cuprate with the highest optimal $T_c$. The data allow us to test a recently proposed phenomenological model for the cuprate phase diagram that combines a universal transport scattering rate with spatially inhomogeneous (de)localization of the Mott-localized hole. We find that the model provides an excellent description of the data. We then extend this analysis to prior transport results for several other cuprates, including the Hall number in the overdoped part of the phase diagram, and find little compound-to-compound variation in (de)localization gap scale. The results point to a robust, universal structural origin of the inherent gap inhomogeneity that is unrelated to doping-related disorder. They are inconsistent with the notion that much of the phase diagram is controlled by a quantum critical point, and instead indicate that the unusual electronic properties exhibited by the cuprates are fundamentally related to strong nonlinearities associated with subtle nanoscale inhomogeneity.Comment: 22 pages, 5 figure

Measurement of exciton correlations using electrostatic lattices

We present a method for determining correlations in a gas of indirect excitons in a semiconductor quantum well structure. The method involves subjecting the excitons to a periodic electrostatic potential that causes modulations of the exciton density and photoluminescence (PL). Experimentally measured amplitudes of energy and intensity modulations of exciton PL serve as an input to a theoretical estimate of the exciton correlation parameter and temperature. We also present a proof-of-principle demonstration of the method for determining the correlation parameter and discuss how its accuracy can be improved.Comment: 10 pages, 11 figure

Exciton gas transport through nano-constrictions

An indirect exciton is a bound state of an electron and a hole in spatially separated layers. Two-dimensional indirect excitons can be created optically in heterostructures containing double quantum wells or atomically thin semiconductors. We study theoretically transmission of such bosonic quasiparticles through nano-constrictions. We show that quantum transport phenomena, e.g., conductance quantization, single-slit diffraction, two-slit interference, and the Talbot effect, are experimentally realizable in systems of indirect excitons. We discuss similarities and differences between these phenomena and their counterparts in electronic devices.Comment: (v2) Updated title, text, and references; 12 pages, 9 figure

Doping-Dependent Raman Resonance in the Model High-Temperature Superconductor HgBa2CuO4+d

We study the model high-temperature superconductor HgBa2CuO4+d with electronic Raman scattering and optical ellipsometry over a wide doping range. The resonant Raman condition which enhances the scattering cross section of "two-magnon" excitations is found to change strongly with doping, and it corresponds to a rearrangement of inter-band optical transitions in the 1-3 eV range seen by ellipsometry. This unexpected change of the resonance condition allows us to reconcile the apparent discrepancy between Raman and x-ray detection of magnetic fluctuations in superconducting cuprates. Intriguingly, the strongest variation occurs across the doping level where the antinodal superconducting gap reaches its maximum.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figures, contact authors for Supplemental Materia

Connection between charge-density-wave order and charge transport in the cuprate superconductors

Charge-density-wave (CDW) correlations within the quintessential CuO$_2$ planes have been argued to either cause [1] or compete with [2] the superconductivity in the cuprates, and they might furthermore drive the Fermi-surface reconstruction in high magnetic fields implied by quantum oscillation (QO) experiments for YBa$_2$Cu$_3$O$_{6+{\delta}}$ (YBCO) [3] and HgBa$_2$CuO$_{4+{\delta}}$ (Hg1201) [4]. Consequently, the observation of bulk CDW order in YBCO was a significant development [5,6,7]. Hg1201 features particularly high structural symmetry and recently has been demonstrated to exhibit Fermi-liquid charge transport in the relevant temperature-doping range of the phase diagram, whereas for YBCO and other cuprates this underlying property of the CuO$_2$ planes is partially or fully masked [8-10]. It therefore is imperative to establish if the pristine transport behavior of Hg1201 is compatible with CDW order. Here we investigate Hg1201 ($T_c$ = 72 K) via bulk Cu L-edge resonant X-ray scattering. We indeed observe CDW correlations in the absence of a magnetic field, although the correlations and competition with superconductivity are weaker than in YBCO. Interestingly, at the measured hole-doping level, both the short-range CDW and Fermi-liquid transport appear below the same temperature of about 200 K. Our result points to a unifying picture in which the CDW formation is preceded at the higher pseudogap temperature by $q$ = 0 magnetic order [11,12] and the build-up of significant dynamic antiferromagnetic correlations [13]. Furthermore, the smaller CDW modulation wave vector observed for Hg1201 is consistent with the larger electron pocket implied by both QO [4] and Hall-effect [14] measurements, which suggests that CDW correlations are indeed responsible for the low-temperature QO phenomenon

The rate of quasiparticle recombination probes the onset of coherence in cuprate superconductors

The condensation of an electron superfluid from a conventional metallic state at a critical temperature $T_c$ is described well by the BCS theory. In the underdoped copper-oxides, high-temperature superconductivity condenses instead from a nonconventional metallic "pseudogap" phase that exhibits a variety of non-Fermi liquid properties. Recently, it has become clear that a charge density wave (CDW) phase exists within the pseudogap regime, appearing at a temperature $T_{CDW}$ just above $T_c$. The near coincidence of $T_c$ and $T_{CDW}$, as well the coexistence and competition of CDW and superconducting order below $T_c$, suggests that they are intimately related. Here we show that the condensation of the superfluid from this unconventional precursor is reflected in deviations from the predictions of BSC theory regarding the recombination rate of quasiparticles. We report a detailed investigation of the quasiparticle (QP) recombination lifetime, $\tau_{qp}$, as a function of temperature and magnetic field in underdoped HgBa$_{2}$CuO$_{4+\delta}$ (Hg-1201) and YBa$_{2}$Cu$_{3}$O$_{6+x}$ (YBCO) single crystals by ultrafast time-resolved reflectivity. We find that $\tau_{qp}(T)$ exhibits a local maximum in a small temperature window near $T_c$ that is prominent in underdoped samples with coexisting charge order and vanishes with application of a small magnetic field. We explain this unusual, non-BCS behavior by positing that $T_c$ marks a transition from phase-fluctuating SC/CDW composite order above to a SC/CDW condensate below. Our results suggest that the superfluid in underdoped cuprates is a condensate of coherently-mixed particle-particle and particle-hole pairs