The change of Fermi surface topology in Bi2Sr2CaCu2O8 with doping

We report the observation of a change in Fermi surface topology of Bi2Sr2CaCu2O8 with doping. By collecting high statistics ARPES data from moderately and highly overdoped samples and dividing the data by the Fermi function, we answer a long standing question about the Fermi surface shape of Bi2Sr2CaCu2O8 close to the (pi,0) point. For moderately overdoped samples (Tc=80K) we find that both the bonding and antibonding sheets of the Fermi surface are hole-like. However for a doping level corresponding to Tc=55K we find that the antibonding sheet becomes electron-like. This change does not directly affect the critical temperature and therefore the superconductivity. However, since similar observations of the change of the topology of the Fermi surface were observed in LSCO and Bi2Sr2Cu2O6, it appears to be a generic feature of hole-doped superconductors. Because of bilayer splitting, though, this doping value is considerably lower than that for the single layer materials, which again argues that it is unrelated to Tc

Identifying the Background Signal in ARPES of High Temperature Superconductors

One of the interesting features of the photoemission spectra of the high temperature cuprate superconductors is the presence of a large signal (referred to as the "background'') in the unoccupied region of the Brillouin zone. Here we present data indicating that the origin of this signal is extrinsic and is most likely due to strong scattering of the photoelectrons. We also present an analytical method that can be used to subtract the background signal

Dual character of the electronic structure in YBa2Cu4O8: conduction bands of CuO2 planes and CuO chains

We use microprobe Angle-Resolved Photoemission Spectroscopy (muARPES) to separately investigate the electronic properties of CuO2 planes and CuO chains in the high temperature superconductor, YBa2Cu4O8. In the CuO2 planes, a two dimensional (2D) electronic structure with nearly momentum independent bilayer splitting is observed. The splitting energy is 150 meV at (pi,0), almost 50% larger than in Bi2Sr2CaCu2O(8+d) and the electron scattering at the Fermi level in the bonding band is about 1.5 times stronger than in the antibonding band. The CuO chains have a quasi one dimensional (1D) electronic structure. We observe two 1D bands separated by ~ 550meV: a conducting band and an insulating band with an energy gap of ~ 240meV. We find that the conduction electrons are well confined within the planes and chains with a non-trivial hybridization.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figure

Momentum anisotropy of the scattering rate in cuprate superconductors

We examine the momentum and energy dependence of the scattering rate of the high temperature cuprate superconductors using angle resolved photoemission spectroscopy. The scattering rate is of the form a + b*w. The inelastic coefficient b is found to be isotropic. The elastic term, a, however, is found to be highly anisotropic in the pseudogap phase of optimal doped samples, with an anisotropy which correlates with that of the pseudogap. This can be contrasted with heavily overdoped samples, which show an isotropic scattering rate in the normal state

Non-dispersive Fermi arcs and absence of charge ordering in the pseudogap phase of Bi2Sr2CaCu2O8+d

The autocorrelation of angle resolved photoemission data from the high temperature superconductor Bi2Sr2CaCu2O8+d shows distinct peaks in momentum space which disperse with binding energy in the superconducting state, but not in the pseudogap phase. Although it is tempting to attribute a non-dispersive behavior in momentum space to some ordering phenomenon, a de-construction of the autocorrelation reveals that the non-dispersive peaks arise not from ordering, but rather from the tips of the Fermi arcs, which themselves do not change with binding energy.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figure

Spontaneous time reversal symmetry breaking in the pseudogap state of high-Tc superconductors

When matter undergoes a phase transition from one state to another, usually a change in symmetry is observed, as some of the symmetries exhibited are said to be spontaneously broken. The superconducting phase transition in the underdoped high-Tc superconductors is rather unusual, in that it is not a mean-field transition as other superconducting transitions are. Instead, it is observed that a pseudo-gap in the electronic excitation spectrum appears at temperatures T* higher than Tc, while phase coherence, and superconductivity, are established at Tc (Refs. 1, 2). One would then wish to understand if T* is just a crossover, controlled by fluctuations in order which will set in at the lower Tc (Refs. 3, 4), or whether some symmetry is spontaneously broken at T* (Refs. 5-10). Here, using angle-resolved photoemission with circularly polarized light, we find that, in the pseudogap state, left-circularly polarized photons give a different photocurrent than right-circularly polarized photons, and therefore the state below T* is rather unusual, in that it breaks time reversal symmetry11. This observation of a phase transition at T* provides the answer to a major mystery of the phase diagram of the cuprates. The appearance of the anomalies below T* must be related to the order parameter that sets in at this characteristic temperature .Comment: 11 pages, 4 figure

The Tabby cat locus maps to feline chromosome B1.

The Tabby markings of the domestic cat are unique coat patterns for which no causative candidate gene has been inferred from other mammals. In this study, a genome scan was performed on a large pedigree of cats that segregated for Tabby coat markings, specifically for the Abyssinian (Ta-) and blotched (tbtb) phenotypes. There was linkage between the Tabby locus and eight markers on cat chromosome B1. The most significant linkage was between marker FCA700 and Tabby (Z = 7.56, theta = 0.03). Two additional markers in the region supported linkage, although not with significant LOD scores. Pairwise analysis of the markers supported the published genetic map of the cat, although additional meioses are required to refine the region. The linked markers cover a 17-cM region and flank an evolutionary breakpoint, suggesting that the Tabby gene has a homologue on either human chromosome 4 or 8. Alternatively, Tabby could be a unique locus in cats

Electronic Spectra and Their Relation to the (pi,pi) Collective Mode in High-Tc Superconductors

Photoemission spectra of Bi2Sr2CaCu2O8 reveal that the high energy feature near (pi,0), the "hump", scales with the superconducting gap and persists above Tc in the pseudogap phase. As the doping decreases, the dispersion of the hump increasingly reflects the wavevector (pi,pi) characteristic of the undoped insulator, despite the presence of a large Fermi surface. This can be understood from the interaction of the electrons with a collective mode, supported by our observation that the doping dependence of the resonance observed by neutron scattering is the same as that inferred from our data.Comment: 4 pages (revtex), 5 figures (eps