Resonance in the electron-doped high-transition-temperature superconductor Pr0.88LaCe0.12CuO4-delta

In conventional superconductors, the interaction that pairs the electrons to form the superconducting state is mediated by lattice vibrations (phonons). In high-transition-temperature (high-T(c)) copper oxides, it is generally believed that magnetic excitations might play a fundamental role in the superconducting mechanism because superconductivity occurs when mobile 'electrons' or 'holes' are doped into the antiferromagnetic parent compounds. Indeed, a sharp magnetic excitation termed 'resonance' has been observed by neutron scattering in a number of hole-doped materials. The resonance is intimately related to superconductivity, and its interaction with charged quasi-particles observed by photoemission, optical conductivity, and tunnelling suggests that it might play a part similar to that of phonons in conventional superconductors. The relevance of the resonance to high-T(c) superconductivity, however, has been in doubt because so far it has been found only in hole-doped materials. Here we report the discovery of the resonance in electron-doped superconducting Pr0.88LaCe0.12CuO4-delta (T(c) = 24 K). We find that the resonance energy (E(r)) is proportional to T(c) via E(r) approximately 5.8k(B)T(c) for all high-T(c) superconductors irrespective of electron- or hole-doping. Our results demonstrate that the resonance is a fundamental property of the superconducting copper oxides and therefore must be essential in the mechanism of superconductivity.     

Evidence for ubiquitous strong electron-phonon coupling in high-temperature superconductors

Coupling between electrons and phonons (lattice vibrations) drives the formation of the electron pairs responsible for conventional superconductivity. The lack of direct evidence for electron-phonon coupling in the electron dynamics of the high-transition-temperature superconductors has driven an intensive search for an alternative mechanism. A coupling of an electron with a phonon would result in an abrupt change of its velocity and scattering rate near the phonon energy. Here we use angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy to probe electron dynamics-velocity and scattering rate-for three different families of copper oxide superconductors. We see in all of these materials an abrupt change of electron velocity at 50-80 meV, which we cannot explain by any known process other than to invoke coupling with the phonons associated with the movement of the oxygen atoms. This suggests that electron-phonon coupling strongly influences the electron dynamics in the high-temperature superconductors, and must therefore be included in any microscopic theory of superconductivity.     

Unconventional superconductivity in PuCoGa5

In the Bardeen-Cooper-Schrieffer theory of superconductivity, electrons form (Cooper) pairs through an interaction mediated by vibrations in the underlying crystal structure. Like lattice vibrations, antiferromagnetic fluctuations can also produce an attractive interaction creating Cooper pairs, though with spin and angular momentum properties different from those of conventional superconductors. Such interactions have been implicated for two disparate classes of materials--the copper oxides and a set of Ce- and U-based compounds. But because their transition temperatures differ by nearly two orders of magnitude, this raises the question of whether a common pairing mechanism applies. PuCoGa5 has a transition temperature intermediate between those classes and therefore may bridge these extremes. Here we report measurements of the nuclear spin-lattice relaxation rate and Knight shift in PuCoGa5, which demonstrate that it is an unconventional superconductor with properties as expected for antiferromagnetically mediated superconductivity. Scaling of the relaxation rates among all of these materials (a feature not exhibited by their Knight shifts) establishes antiferromagnetic fluctuations as a likely mechanism for their unconventional superconductivity and suggests that related classes of exotic superconductors may yet be discovered.     

Link between spin fluctuations and electron pairing in copper oxide superconductors

Although it is generally accepted that superconductivity is unconventional in the high-transition-temperature copper oxides, the relative importance of phenomena such as spin and charge (stripe) order, superconductivity fluctuations, proximity to a Mott insulator, a pseudogap phase and quantum criticality are still a matter of debate. In electron-doped copper oxides, the absence of an anomalous pseudogap phase in the underdoped region of the phase diagram and weaker electron correlations suggest that Mott physics and other unidentified competing orders are less relevant and that antiferromagnetic spin fluctuations are the dominant feature. Here we report a study of magnetotransport in thin films of the electron-doped copper oxide La(2?-?x)Ce(x)CuO(4). We show that a scattering rate that is linearly dependent on temperature--a key feature of the anomalous normal state properties of the copper oxides--is correlated with the electron pairing. We also show that an envelope of such scattering surrounds the superconducting phase, surviving to zero temperature when superconductivity is suppressed by magnetic fields. Comparison with similar behaviour found in organic superconductors strongly suggests that the linear dependence on temperature of the resistivity in the electron-doped copper oxides is caused by spin-fluctuation scattering.     

An hour-glass magnetic spectrum in an insulating, hole-doped antiferromagnet

Superconductivity in layered copper oxide compounds emerges when charge carriers are added to antiferromagnetically ordered CuO(2) layers. The carriers destroy the antiferromagnetic order, but strong spin fluctuations persist throughout the superconducting phase and are intimately linked to superconductivity. Neutron scattering measurements of spin fluctuations in hole-doped copper oxides have revealed an unusual 'hour-glass' feature in the momentum-resolved magnetic spectrum that is present in a wide range of superconducting and non-superconducting materials. There is no widely accepted explanation for this feature. One possibility is that it derives from a pattern of alternating spin and charge stripes, and this idea is supported by measurements on stripe-ordered La(1.875)Ba(0.125)CuO(4) (ref. 15). Many copper oxides without stripe order, however, also exhibit an hour-glass spectrum. Here we report the observation of an hour-glass magnetic spectrum in a hole-doped antiferromagnet from outside the family of superconducting copper oxides. Our system has stripe correlations and is an insulator, which means that its magnetic dynamics can conclusively be ascribed to stripes. The results provide compelling evidence that the hour-glass spectrum in the copper oxide superconductors arises from fluctuating stripes.     

Small phonon contribution to the photoemission kink in the copper oxide superconductors

Despite over two decades of intense research efforts, the origin of high-temperature superconductivity in the copper oxides remains elusive. Angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy experiments have revealed a kink in the dispersion relations (energy versus wavevector) of electronic states in the copper oxides at binding energies of 50-80 meV, raising the hope that this anomaly could be a key to understanding high-temperature superconductivity. The kink is often interpreted in terms of interactions between the electrons and a bosonic field. Although there is no consensus on the nature of the bosons (or even whether a boson model is appropriate), both phonons and spin fluctuations have been proposed as possible candidates. Here we report first-principles calculations of the role of phonons and the electron-phonon interaction in the photoemission spectra of La(2 - x)Sr(x)CuO4. Our calculations within the standard formalism demonstrate that the phonon-induced renormalization of the electron energies and the Fermi velocity is almost one order of magnitude smaller than the effect observed in photoemission experiments. Therefore, our result rules out electron-phonon interaction in bulk La(2 - x)Sr(x)CuO4 as the exclusive origin of the measured kink. Our conclusions are consistent with those reached independently in a recent study of the related compound YBa2Cu3O7.     

The structure of the high-energy spin excitations in a high-transition-temperature superconductor

In conventional superconductors, lattice vibrations (phonons) mediate the attraction between electrons that is responsible for superconductivity. The high transition temperatures (high-T(c)) of the copper oxide superconductors has led to collective spin excitations being proposed as the mediating excitations in these materials. The mediating excitations must be strongly coupled to the conduction electrons, have energy greater than the pairing energy, and be present at T(c). The most obvious feature in the magnetic excitations of high-T(c) superconductors such as YBa2Cu3O6+x is the so-called 'resonance'. Although the resonance may be strongly coupled to the superconductivity, it is unlikely to be the main cause, because it has not been found in the La2-x(Ba,Sr)(x)CuO4 family and is not universally present in Bi2Sr2CaCu2O8+delta (ref. 9). Here we use inelastic neutron scattering to characterize possible mediating excitations at higher energies in YBa2Cu3O6.6. We observe a square-shaped continuum of excitations peaked at incommensurate positions. These excitations have energies greater than the superconducting pairing energy, are present at T(c), and have spectral weight far exceeding that of the 'resonance'. The discovery of similar excitations in La2-xBa(x)CuO4 (ref. 10) suggests that they are a general property of the copper oxides, and a candidate for mediating the electron pairing.     

Negative lattice expansion from the superconductivity--antiferromagnetism crossover in ruthenium copper oxides

The mechanism of high-transition-temperature (high-T(c)) superconductivity in doped copper oxides is an enduring problem. Antiferromagnetism is established as the competing order, but the relationship between the two states in the intervening 'pseudogap' regime has become a central puzzle. The role of the crystal lattice, which is important in conventional superconductors, also remains unclear. Here we report an anomalous increase of the distance between copper oxide planes on cooling, which results in negative thermal volume expansion, for layered ruthenium copper oxides that have been doped to the boundary of antiferromagnetism and superconductivity. We propose that a crossover between these states is driven by spin ordering in the ruthenium oxide layers, revealing a novel mechanism for negative lattice expansion in solids. The differences in volume and lattice strain between the distinct superconducting and antiferromagnetic states can account for the phase segregation phenomena found extensively in low-doped copper oxides, and show that Cooper pair formation is coupled to the lattice. Unusually large variations of resistivity with magnetic field are found in these ruthenium copper oxides at low temperatures through coupling between the ordered Ru and Cu spins.     

Interplay of magnetism and high-Tc superconductivity at individual Ni impurity atoms in Bi2Sr2CaCu2O8+delta.

Magnetic interactions and magnetic impurities are destructive to superconductivity in conventional superconductors. By contrast, in some unconventional macroscopic quantum systems (such as superfluid 3He and superconducting UGe2), the superconductivity (or superfluidity) is actually mediated by magnetic interactions. A magnetic mechanism has also been proposed for high-temperature superconductivity. Within this context, the fact that magnetic Ni impurity atoms have a weaker effect on superconductivity than non-magnetic Zn atoms in the high-Tc superconductors has been put forward as evidence supporting a magnetic mechanism. Here we use scanning tunnelling microscopy to determine directly the influence of individual Ni atoms on the local electronic structure of Bi2Sr2CaCu2O8+delta. At each Ni site we observe two d-wave impurity states of apparently opposite spin polarization, whose existence indicates that Ni retains a magnetic moment in the superconducting state. However, analysis of the impurity-state energies shows that quasiparticle scattering at Ni is predominantly non-magnetic. Furthermore, we show that the superconducting energy gap and correlations are unimpaired at Ni. This is in strong contrast to the effects of non-magnetic Zn impurities, which locally destroy superconductivity. These results are consistent with predictions for impurity atom phenomena derived from a magnetic mechanism.     

Electron-phonon coupling reflecting dynamic charge inhomogeneity in copper oxide superconductors

The attempt to understand copper oxide superconductors is complicated by the presence of multiple strong interactions in these systems. Many believe that antiferromagnetism is important for superconductivity, but there has been renewed interest in the possible role of electron-lattice coupling. The conventional superconductor MgB2 has a very strong electron-lattice coupling, involving a particular vibrational mode (phonon) that was predicted by standard theory and confirmed quantitatively by experiment. Here we present inelastic scattering measurements that show a similarly strong anomaly in the Cu-O bond-stretching phonon in the copper oxide superconductors La(2-x)Sr(x)CuO4 (with x = 0.07, 0.15). Conventional theory does not predict such behaviour. The anomaly is strongest in La(1.875)Ba(0.125)CuO4 and La(1.48)Nd(0.4)Sr(0.12)CuO4, compounds that exhibit spatially modulated charge and magnetic order, often called stripe order; it occurs at a wave vector corresponding to the charge order. These results suggest that this giant electron-phonon anomaly, which is absent in undoped and over-doped non-superconductors, is associated with charge inhomogeneity. It follows that electron-phonon coupling may be important to our understanding of superconductivity, although its contribution is likely to be indirect.     

Observation of a pairing pseudogap in a two-dimensional Fermi gas

Pairing of fermions is ubiquitous in nature, underlying many phenomena. Examples include superconductivity, superfluidity of (3)He, the anomalous rotation of neutron stars, and the crossover between Bose-Einstein condensation of dimers and the BCS (Bardeen, Cooper and Schrieffer) regime in strongly interacting Fermi gases. When confined to two dimensions, interacting many-body systems show even more subtle effects, many of which are not understood at a fundamental level. Most striking is the (as yet unexplained) phenomenon of high-temperature superconductivity in copper oxides, which is intimately related to the two-dimensional geometry of the crystal structure. In particular, it is not understood how the many-body pairing is established at high temperature, and whether it precedes superconductivity. Here we report the observation of a many-body pairing gap above the superfluid transition temperature in a harmonically trapped, two-dimensional atomic Fermi gas in the regime of strong coupling. Our measurements of the spectral function of the gas are performed using momentum-resolved photoemission spectroscopy, analogous to angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy in the solid state. Our observations mark a significant step in the emulation of layered two-dimensional strongly correlated superconductors using ultracold atomic gases.     

Superconductivity phase diagram of Na(x)CoO2*1.3H2O

The microscopic origin of superconductivity in the high-transition-temperature (high-T(c)) copper oxides remains the subject of active inquiry; several of their electronic characteristics are well established as universal to all the known materials, forming the experimental foundation that all theories must address. The most fundamental of those characteristics, for both the copper oxides and other superconductors, is the dependence of the superconducting T(c) on the degree of electronic band filling. The recent report of superconductivity near 4 K in the layered sodium cobalt oxyhydrate, Na(0.35)CoO2*1.3H2O, is of interest owing to both its triangular cobalt-oxygen lattice and its generally analogous chemical and structural relationships to the copper oxide superconductors. Here we show that the superconducting T(c) of this compound displays the same kind of behaviour on chemical doping that is observed in the high-T(c) copper oxides. Specifically, the optimal superconducting T(c) occurs in a narrow range of sodium concentrations (and therefore electron concentrations) and decreases for both underdoped and overdoped materials, as observed in the phase diagram of the copper oxide superconductors. The analogy is not perfect, however, suggesting that Na(x)CoO2*1.3H2O, with its triangular lattice geometry and special magnetic characteristics, may provide insights into systems where coupled charge and spin dynamics play an essential role in leading to superconductivity.     

A BCS-like gap in the superconductor SmFeAsO0.85F0.15

Since the discovery of superconductivity in the high-transition-temperature (high-T(c)) copper oxides two decades ago, it has been firmly established that the CuO(2) plane is essential for superconductivity and gives rise to a host of other very unusual properties. A new family of superconductors with the general composition of LaFeAsO(1-x)F(x) has recently been discovered and the conspicuous lack of the CuO(2) planes raises the tantalizing question of a different pairing mechanism in these oxypnictides. The superconducting gap (its magnitude, structure, and temperature dependence) is intimately related to pairing. Here we report the observation of a single gap in the superconductor SmFeAsO(0.85)F(0.15) with T(c) = 42 K as measured by Andreev spectroscopy. The gap value of 2Delta = 13.34 +/- 0.3 meV gives 2Delta/k(B)T(c) = 3.68 (where k(B) is the Boltzmann constant), close to the Bardeen-Cooper-Schrieffer (BCS) prediction of 3.53. The gap decreases with temperature and vanishes at T(c) in a manner consistent with the BCS prediction, but dramatically different from that of the pseudogap behaviour in the copper oxide superconductors. Our results clearly indicate a nodeless gap order parameter, which is nearly isotropic in size across different sections of the Fermi surface, and are not compatible with models involving antiferromagnetic fluctuations, strong correlations, the t-J model, and the like, originally designed for the high-T(c) copper oxides.     

Imaging the granular structure of high-Tc superconductivity in underdoped Bi2Sr2CaCu2O8+delta.

Granular superconductivity occurs when microscopic superconducting grains are separated by non-superconducting regions; Josephson tunnelling between the grains establishes the macroscopic superconducting state. Although crystals of the copper oxide high-transition-temperature (high-Tc) superconductors are not granular in a structural sense, theory suggests that at low levels of hole doping the holes can become concentrated at certain locations resulting in hole-rich superconducting domains. Granular superconductivity arising from tunnelling between such domains would represent a new view of the underdoped copper oxide superconductors. Here we report scanning tunnelling microscope studies of underdoped Bi2Sr2CaCu2O8+delta that reveal an apparent segregation of the electronic structure into superconducting domains that are approximately 3 nm in size (and local energy gap <50 meV), located in an electronically distinct background. We used scattering resonances at Ni impurity atoms as 'markers' for local superconductivity; no Ni resonances were detected in any region where the local energy gap Delta > 50 +/- 2.5 meV. These observations suggest that underdoped Bi2Sr2CaCu2O8+delta is a mixture of two different short-range electronic orders with the long-range characteristics of a granular superconductor.     

Cu、O同位素效应与高Tc超导体超导电性机理

Cu元素、O元素在铜氧化物高Tc超导体中对超导电性的产生,超导转变温度的变化,掺杂元素的特征效应具有决定性作用。对Cu元素、O元素的性质特征认识,成键特点,以及在铜氧化物高Tc超导体中的同位素效应清楚的理解,对全面揭示高Tc铜氧化物超导体超导电性机理具有关键作用。通过分析Cu元素、O元素在铜氧化物超导体中的同位素效应,得出了高Tc铜氧化物超导电性的机理仍是电声机制,CuO2平面上的Cu元素,O元素的声子直接参于电声子配对,CuO2平面上的Cu、O元素的键态的声子模对电声配对具有决定性作用。     

Resonance as a measure of pairing correlations in the high-Tc superconductor YBa2Cu3O6.6

One of the most striking properties of the high-transition-temperature (high-Tc) superconductors is that they are all derived from insulating antiferromagnetic parent compounds. The intimate relationship between magnetism and superconductivity in these copper oxide materials has intrigued researchers from the outset, because it does not exist in conventional superconductors. Evidence for this link comes from neutron-scattering experiments that show the unambiguous presence of short-range antiferromagnetic correlations (excitations) in the high-Tc superconductors. Even so, the role of such excitations in the pairing mechanism for superconductivity is still a subject of controversy. For YBa2Cu3O(6+x), where x controls the hole-doping level, the most prominent feature in the magnetic excitation spectrum is a sharp resonance (refs 6-11). Here we show that for underdoped YBa2Cu3O6.6, where x and Tc are below their optimal values, modest magnetic fields suppress the resonance significantly, much more so for fields approximately perpendicular to the CuO2 planes than for parallel fields. Our results indicate that the resonance measures pairing and phase coherence, suggesting that magnetism plays an important role in high-Tc superconductivity. The persistence of a field effect above Tc favours mechanisms in which the superconducting electron pairs are pre-formed in the normal state of underdoped copper oxide superconductors, awaiting transition to the superconducting state.     

Electronic structure of the iron-based superconductor LaOFeP

The recent discovery of superconductivity in the iron oxypnictide family of compounds has generated intense interest. The layered crystal structure with transition-metal ions in planar square-lattice form and the discovery of spin-density-wave order near 130 K (refs 10, 11) seem to hint at a strong similarity with the copper oxide superconductors. An important current issue is the nature of the ground state of the parent compounds. Two distinct classes of theories, distinguished by the underlying band structure, have been put forward: a local-moment antiferromagnetic ground state in the strong-coupling approach, and an itinerant ground state in the weak-coupling approach. The first approach stresses on-site correlations, proximity to a Mott-insulating state and, thus, the resemblance to the high-transition-temperature copper oxides, whereas the second approach emphasizes the itinerant-electron physics and the interplay between the competing ferromagnetic and antiferromagnetic fluctuations. The debate over the two approaches is partly due to the lack of conclusive experimental information on the electronic structures. Here we report angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy (ARPES) of LaOFeP (superconducting transition temperature, T(c) = 5.9 K), the first-reported iron-based superconductor. Our results favour the itinerant ground state, albeit with band renormalization. In addition, our data reveal important differences between these and copper-based superconductors.     

Quantum magnetic excitations from stripes in copper oxide superconductors

In the copper oxide parent compounds of the high-transition-temperature superconductors the valence electrons are localized--one per copper site--by strong intra-atomic Coulomb repulsion. A symptom of this localization is antiferromagnetism, where the spins of localized electrons alternate between up and down. Superconductivity appears when mobile 'holes' are doped into this insulating state, and it coexists with antiferromagnetic fluctuations. In one approach to describing the coexistence, the holes are believed to self-organize into 'stripes' that alternate with antiferromagnetic (insulating) regions within copper oxide planes, which would necessitate an unconventional mechanism of superconductivity. There is an apparent problem with this picture, however: measurements of magnetic excitations in superconducting YBa2Cu3O6+x near optimum doping are incompatible with the naive expectations for a material with stripes. Here we report neutron scattering measurements on stripe-ordered La1.875Ba0.125CuO4. We show that the measured excitations are, surprisingly, quite similar to those in YBa2Cu3O6+x (refs 9, 10) (that is, the predicted spectrum of magnetic excitations is wrong). We find instead that the observed spectrum can be understood within a stripe model by taking account of quantum excitations. Our results support the concept that stripe correlations are essential to high-transition-temperature superconductivity.     

Imaging the effects of individual zinc impurity atoms on superconductivity in Bi2Sr2CaCu2O8+delta

Although the crystal structures of the copper oxide high-temperature superconductors are complex and diverse, they all contain some crystal planes consisting of only copper and oxygen atoms in a square lattice: superconductivity is believed to originate from strongly interacting electrons in these CuO2 planes. Substituting a single impurity atom for a copper atom strongly perturbs the surrounding electronic environment and can therefore be used to probe high-temperature superconductivity at the atomic scale. This has provided the motivation for several experimental and theoretical studies. Scanning tunnelling microscopy (STM) is an ideal technique for the study of such effects at the atomic scale, as it has been used very successfully to probe individual impurity atoms in several other systems. Here we use STM to investigate the effects of individual zinc impurity atoms in the high-temperature superconductor Bi2Sr2CaCu2O8+delta. We find intense quasiparticle scattering resonances at the Zn sites, coincident with strong suppression of superconductivity within approximately 15 A of the scattering sites. Imaging of the spatial dependence of the quasiparticle density of states in the vicinity of the impurity atoms reveals the long-sought four-fold symmetric quasiparticle 'cloud' aligned with the nodes of the d-wave superconducting gap which is believed to characterize superconductivity in these materials.     

Evidence for superfluidity of ultracold fermions in an optical lattice

The study of superfluid fermion pairs in a periodic potential has important ramifications for understanding superconductivity in crystalline materials. By using cold atomic gases, various models of condensed matter can be studied in a highly controllable environment. Weakly repulsive fermions in an optical lattice could undergo d-wave pairing at low temperatures, a possible mechanism for high temperature superconductivity in the copper oxides. The lattice potential could also strongly increase the critical temperature for s-wave superfluidity. Recent experimental advances in bulk atomic gases include the observation of fermion-pair condensates and high-temperature superfluidity. Experiments with fermions and bosonic bound pairs in optical lattices have been reported but have not yet addressed superfluid behaviour. Here we report the observation of distinct interference peaks when a condensate of fermionic atom pairs is released from an optical lattice, implying long-range order (a property of a superfluid). Conceptually, this means that s-wave pairing and coherence of fermion pairs have now been established in a lattice potential, in which the transport of atoms occurs by quantum mechanical tunnelling and not by simple propagation. These observations were made for interactions on both sides of a Feshbach resonance. For larger lattice depths, the coherence was lost in a reversible manner, possibly as a result of a transition from superfluid to insulator. Such strongly interacting fermions in an optical lattice can be used to study a new class of hamiltonians with interband and atom-molecule couplings.