Scanning Tunneling Spectroscopy of Bi2Sr2CuO6+d: New Evidence for the Common Origin of the Pseudogap and Superconductivity

Using scanning tunneling spectroscopy, we investigated the temperature dependence of the quasiparticle density of states of overdoped Bi2Sr2CuO6+δ between 275 mK and 82 K. Below Tc = 10 K, the spectra show a gap with well-defined coherence peaks at ±Δp≃12 meV, which disappear at Tc. Above Tc, the spectra display a clear pseudogap of the same magnitude, gradually filling up and vanishing at T*≃68 K. The comparison with Bi2Sr2CaCu2O8+δ demonstrates that the pseudogap and the superconducting gap scale with each other, providing strong evidence that they have a common origin

Far-infrared absorption and the metal-to-insulator transition in hole-doped cuprates

By studying the optical conductivity of BSLCO and YCBCO, we show that the metal-to-insulator transition (MIT) in these hole-doped cuprates is driven by the opening of a small gap at low T in the far infrared. Its width is consistent with the observations of Angle-Resolved Photoemission Spectroscopy in other cuprates, along the nodal line of the k-space. The gap forms as the Drude term turns into a far-infrared absorption, whose peak frequency can be approximately predicted on the basis of a Mott-like transition. Another band in the mid infrared softens with doping but is less sensitive to the MIT.Comment: To be published on Physical Review Letter

Nonchiral Edge States at the Chiral Metal Insulator Transition in Disordered Quantum Hall Wires

The quantum phase diagram of disordered wires in a strong magnetic field is studied as a function of wire width and energy. The two-terminal conductance shows zero-temperature discontinuous transitions between exactly integer plateau values and zero. In the vicinity of this transition, the chiral metal-insulator transition (CMIT), states are identified that are superpositions of edge states with opposite chirality. The bulk contribution of such states is found to decrease with increasing wire width. Based on exact diagonalization results for the eigenstates and their participation ratios, we conclude that these states are characteristic for the CMIT, have the appearance of nonchiral edges states, and are thereby distinguishable from other states in the quantum Hall wire, namely, extended edge states, two-dimensionally (2D) localized, quasi-1D localized, and 2D critical states.Comment: replaced with revised versio

High frequency and high wavenumber solar oscillations

We determine the frequencies of solar oscillations covering a wide range of degree (100< l <4000) and frequency (1.5 <\nu<10 mHz) using the ring diagram technique applied to power spectra obtained from MDI (Michelson Doppler Imager) data. The f-mode ridge extends up to degree of approximately 3000, where the line width becomes very large, implying a damping time which is comparable to the time period. The frequencies of high degree f-modes are significantly different from those given by the simple dispersion relation \omega^2=gk. The f-mode peaks in power spectra are distinctly asymmetric and use of asymmetric profile increases the fitted frequency bringing them closer to the frequencies computed for a solar model.Comment: Revised version. 1.2 mHz features identified as artifacts of data analysis. Accepted for publication in Ap

Correlations, inhomogeneous screening, and suppression of spin-splitting in quantum wires at strong magnetic fields

A self-consistent treatment of exchange and correlation interactions in a quantum wire (QW) subject to a strong perpendicular magnetic field is presented using a modified local-density approximation (MLDA). The influence of many-body interactions on the spin-splitting between the two lowest Landau levels (LLs) is calculated within the screened Hartree-Fock approximation (SHFA), for filling factor \nu=1, and the strong spatial dependence of the screening properties of electrons is taken into account. In comparison with the Hartree-Fock result, the spatial behavior of the occupied LL in a QW is strongly modified when correlations are included. Correlations caused by screening at the edges strongly suppress the exchange splitting and smoothen the energy dispersion at the edges. The theory accounts well for the experimentally observed strong suppression of the spin-splitting pertinent to the \nu=1 quantum Hall effect (QHE) state as well as the destruction of this state in long, quasi-ballistic GaAlAs/GaAs QWs.Comment: Text 23 pages in Latex/Revtex/preprint format, 6 Postscript figures, submitted to Physical Review

Thermal conductivity of lightly Sr- and Zn-doped La2_2CuO4_4 single crystals

Both ab-plane and c-axis thermal conductivities ($\kappa_{ab}$ and $\kappa_c$) of lightly doped La$_{2-x}$Sr$_x$CuO$_4$ and La$_2$Cu$_{1-y}$Zn$_y$O$_4$ single crystals ($x$ or $y$ = 0 -- 0.04) are measured from 2 to 300 K. It is found that the low-temperature phonon peak (at 20 -- 25 K) is significantly suppressed upon Sr or Zn doping even at very low doping, though its precise doping dependences show interesting differences between the Sr and Zn dopants, or between the $ab$ plane and the c axis. Most notably, the phonon peak in $\kappa_c$ decreases much more quickly with Sr doping than with Zn doping, while the phonon-peak suppression in $\kappa_{ab}$ shows an opposite trend. It is discussed that the scattering of phonons by stripes is playing an important role in the damping of the phonon heat transport in lightly doped LSCO, in which static spin stripes has been observed by neutron scattering. We also show $\kappa_{ab}$ and $\kappa_c$ data of La$_{1.28}$Nd$_{0.6}$Sr$_{0.12}$CuO$_4$ and La$_{1.68}$Eu$_{0.2}$Sr$_{0.12}$CuO$_4$ single crystals to compare with the data of the lightly doped crystals for the discussion of the role of stripes. At high temperature, the magnon peak (i.e., the peak caused by the spin heat transport near the N\'{e}el temperature) in $\kappa_{ab}(T)$ is found to be rather robust against Zn doping, while it completely disappears with only 1% of Sr doping.Comment: 7 pages, 4 figures, accepted for publication in Phys. Rev.

High-temperature optical spectral weight and Fermi liquid renormalization in Bi-based cuprates

The optical conductivity and the spectral weight W(T) of two superconducting cuprates at optimum doping, Bi2Sr2-xLaxCuO6 and Bi2Sr2CaCu2O8, have been first measured up to 500 K. Above 300 K, W(T) deviates from the usual T2 behavior in both compounds, even though the zero-frequency extrapolation of the optical conductivity remains larger than the Ioffe-Regel limit. The deviation is surprisingly well described by the T4 term of the Sommerfeld expansion, but its coefficients are enhanced by strong correlation. This renormalization is due to strong correlation, as shown by the good agreement with dynamical mean field calculations.Comment: 5 pages, 3 figures, Physical Review Letters in pres