Imaging the effect of electron lattice interactions on high-Tc superconductivity in Bi2Sr2CaCu2O8+δ
Journal of Physics Conference Series IOP Publishing 108:1 (2008) 012028
Imaging the impact on cuprate superconductivity of varying the interatomic distances within individual crystal unit cells.
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 105:9 (2008) 3203-3208
Abstract:
Many theoretical models of high-temperature superconductivity focus only on the doping dependence of the CuO(2)-plane electronic structure. However, such models are manifestly insufficient to explain the strong variations in superconducting critical temperature, T(c), among cuprates that have identical hole density but are crystallographically different outside of the CuO(2) plane. A key challenge, therefore, has been to identify a predominant out-of-plane influence controlling the superconductivity, with much attention focusing on the distance d(A) between the apical oxygen and the planar copper atom. Here we report direct determination of how variations in interatomic distances within individual crystalline unit cells affect the superconducting energy-gap maximum Delta of Bi(2)Sr(2)CaCu(2)O(8+delta). In this material, quasiperiodic variations of unit cell geometry occur in the form of a bulk crystalline "supermodulation." Within each supermodulation period, we find approximately 9 +/- 1% cosinusoidal variation in local Delta that is anticorrelated with the associated d(A) variations. Furthermore, we show that phenomenological consistency would exist between these effects and the random Delta variations found near dopant atoms if the primary effect of the interstitial dopant atom is to displace the apical oxygen so as to diminish d(A) or tilt the CuO(5) pyramid. Thus, we reveal a strong, nonrandom out-of-plane effect on cuprate superconductivity at atomic scale.Quasiparticle interference and superconducting gap in Ca2−xNaxCuO2Cl2
Nature Physics Springer Nature 3:12 (2007) 865-871
Low-energy spectroscopic mapping studies in optimally-doped Ca2−xNaxCuO2Cl2
Physica C Superconductivity Elsevier 460 (2007) 954-955
An intrinsic bond-centered electronic glass with unidirectional domains in underdoped cuprates.
Science (New York, N.Y.) 315:5817 (2007) 1380-1385