Electron Self-Energy of High Temperature Superconductors as Revealed by Angle Resolved Photoemission

In this paper, we review some of the work our group has done in the past few years to obtain the electron self-energy of high temperature superconductors by analysis of angle-resolved photoemission data. We focus on three examples which have revealed: (1) a d-wave superconducting gap, (2) a collective mode in the superconducting state, and (3) pairing correlations in the pseudogap phase. In each case, although a novel result is obtained which captures the essense of the data, the conventional physics used leads to an incomplete picture. This indicates that new physics needs to be developed to obtain a proper understanding of these materials.Comment: 5 pages, revtex, 3 encapsulated postscript figures, SNS97 proceeding

Evolution of the pairing pseudogap in the spectral function with interplane anisotropy

We study the pairing pseudogap in the spectral function as a function of interplane coupling. The analytical expressions for the self-energy in the critical regime are obtained for any degree of anisotropy. The frequency dependence of the self-energy is found to be qualitatively different in two and three dimensions, and the crossover from two to three dimensional behavior is discussed. In particular, by considering the anisotropy of the Fermi velocity and gap along the Fermi surface, we can qualitatively explain recent photoemission experiments on high temperature superconductors concerning the temperature dependent Fermi arcs seen in the pseudogap phase.Comment: 20 pages, revtex, 5 encapsulated postscript figures include

Fourier transform spectroscopy of d-wave quasiparticles in the presence of atomic scale pairing disorder

The local density of states power spectrum of optimally doped Bi$_2$Sr$_2$CaCu$_2$O$_{8+x}$ (BSCCO) has been interpreted in terms of quasiparticle interference peaks corresponding to an "octet'' of scattering wave vectors connecting k-points where the density of states is maximal. Until now, theoretical treatments have not been able to reproduce the experimentally observed weights and widths of these "octet'' peaks; in particular, the predominance of the dispersing "q$_1$'' peak parallel to the Cu-O bond directions has remained a mystery. In addition, such theories predict "background'' features which are not observed experimentally. Here, we show that most of the discrepancies can be resolved when a realistic model for the out-of-plane disorder in BSCCO is used. Weak extended potential scatterers, which are assumed to represent cation disorder, suppress large-momentum features and broaden the low-energy "q$_7$''-peaks, whereas scattering at order parameter variations, possibly caused by a dopant-modulated pair interaction around interstitial oxygens, strongly enhances the dispersing "q$_1$''-peaks.Comment: 7 pages, 3 figure

Heat Transport and the Nature of the Order Parameter in Superconducting UPt3UPt_3

Recent thermal conductivity data on the heavy fermion superconductor $UPt_3$ have been interpreted as offering support for an $E_{2u}$ model of the order parameter as opposed to an $E_{1g}$ model. In this paper, we analyze this issue from a theoretical standpoint including the detailed effects of Fermi surface and gap anisotropy. Our conclusion is that although current data put strong constraints on the gap anisotropy, they cannot definitively distinguish between these two models. Measurements on samples of varying quality could be decisive in this regard, however.Comment: 8 pages, revtex, 15 uunencoded postscript figure

Staggered local density-of-states around the vortex in underdoped cuprates

We have studied a single vortex with the staggered flux (SF) core based on the SU(2) slave-boson theory of high $T_c$ superconductors. We find that whereas the center in the vortex core is a SF state, as one moves away from the core center, a correlated staggered modulation of the hopping amplitude $\chi$ and pairing amplitude $\Delta$ becomes predominant. We predict that in this region, the local density-of-states (LDOS) exhibits staggered modulation when measured on the bonds, which may be directly detected by STM experiments.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figure

Truncation of a 2-dimensional Fermi surface due to quasiparticle gap formation at the saddle points

We study a two-dimensional Fermi liquid with a Fermi surface containing the saddle points $(\pi,0)$ and $(0,\pi)$. Including Cooper and Peierls channel contributions leads to a one-loop renormalization group flow to strong coupling for short range repulsive interactions. In a certain parameter range the characteristics of the fixed point, opening of a spin and charge gap and dominant pairing correlations are similar to those of a 2-leg ladder at half-filling. An increase of the electron density we argue leads to a truncation of the Fermi surface with only 4 disconnected arcs remaining.Comment: Reference added. RevTeX 4 pages incl. 4 ps file

Superconducting Gap Anisotropy and Quasiparticle Interactions: a Doping Dependent ARPES Study

Comparing ARPES measurements on Bi2212 with penetration depth data, we show that a description of the nodal excitations of the d-wave superconducting state in terms of non-interacting quasiparticles is inadequate, and we estimate the magnitude and doping dependence of the Landau interaction parameter which renormalizes the linear T contribution to the superfluid density. Furthermore, although consistent with d-wave symmetry, the gap with underdoping cannot be fit by the simple coskx-cosky form, which suggests an increasing importance of long range interactions as the insulator is approached.Comment: 4 pages, 3 eps figs, manuscript and Fig. 3 significantly revise

Spin Pseudo Gap in La2-xSrxCuO4 Studied by Neutron Scattering

Spin excitations of La2-xSrxCuO have been studied using inelastic neutron scattering techniques in the energy range of 2 meV =< w =< 12 meV and the temperature range of 8 K =< T =< 150 K. We observed a signature of a spin pseudo gap in the excitation spectrum above Tc for the slightly overdoped sample with x = 0.18. On heating, the spin pseudo gap gradually collapses between T = 80 K and 150 K. For the x = 0.15 and 0.20, although the visibility of gap-like structure at T ~ Tc is lower compared to the x = 0.18 sample, the broad bump of kai"(w) appears at w ~ 5 meV,close to the spin-gap energy at base temperature, suggests the existence of the spin pseudo gap in the normal state.Comment: revtex, 7 pages, 8 eps figures, PRB (2003) in pres

Signature of the staggered flux state around a superconducting vortex in underdoped cuprates

Based on the SU(2) lattice gauge theory formulation of the t-J model, we discuss possible signature of the unit cell doubling associated with the staggered flux (SF) state in the lightly doped spin liquid. Although the SF state appears only dynamically in a uniform d-wave superconducting (SC) state, a topological defect [SU(2) vortex] freezes the SF state inside the vortex core. Consequently, the unit cell doubling shows up in the hopping ($\chi_{ij}$) and pairing ($\Delta_{ij}$) order parameters of physical electrons. We find that whereas the center in the vortex core is a SF state, as one moves away from the core center, a correlated staggered modulation of $\chi_{ij}$ and $\Delta_{ij}$ becomes predominant. We predict that over the region outside the core and inside the internal gauge field penetration depth around a vortex center, the local density-of-states (LDOS) exhibits staggered peak-dip (SPD) structure inside the V-shaped profile when measured on the bonds. The SPD structure has its direct origin in the unit cell doubling associated with the SF core and the robust topological texture, which has little to do with the symmetry of the d-wave order parameter. Therefore the structure may survive the tunneling matrix element effects and easily be detected by STM experiment.Comment: 27 pages, 14 figures in GIF format, typo correcte