Antinodal Direction Research Articles

Quantum size effects in ultra-thin YBa2Cu3O7 − x films

The d-wave symmetry of the order parameter with zero energy gap in nodal directions stands in the way of using high-temperature superconductors for quantum applications. We investigate the symmetry of the order parameter in ultra-thin YBa2Cu3O7 − x (YBCO) films by measuring the electrical transport properties of nanowires aligned at different angles relative to the main crystallographic axes. The anisotropy of the nanowire critical current in the nodal and antinodal directions reduces with the decrease in the film thickness. The Andreev reflection spectroscopy of the nanoconstrictions shows the presence of a thickness-dependent energy gap that does not exist in bulk YBCO. We find that the thickness-dependent energy gap appears due to the quantum size effects in ultra-thin YBCO films that open the energy gap along the entire Fermi surface. The fully gapped state of the ultra-thin YBCO films makes them a promising platform for quantum applications, including quantum computing and quantum communications.

Evidence for a finite-momentum Cooper pair in tricolor d-wave superconducting superlattices

Fermionic superfluidity with a nontrivial Cooper-pairing, beyond the conventional Bardeen-Cooper-Schrieffer state, is a captivating field of study in quantum many-body systems. In particular, the search for superconducting states with finite-momentum pairs has long been a challenge, but establishing its existence has long suffered from the lack of an appropriate probe to reveal its momentum. Recently, it has been proposed that the nonreciprocal electron transport is the most powerful probe for the finite-momentum pairs, because it directly couples to the supercurrents. Here we reveal such a pairing state by the non-reciprocal transport on tricolor superlattices with strong spin-orbit coupling combined with broken inversion-symmetry consisting of atomically thin d-wave superconductor CeCoIn5. We find that while the second-harmonic resistance exhibits a distinct dip anomaly at the low-temperature (T)/high-magnetic field (H) corner in the HT-plane for H applied to the antinodal direction of the d-wave gap, such an anomaly is absent for H along the nodal direction. By carefully isolating extrinsic effects due to vortex dynamics, we reveal the presence of a non-reciprocal response originating from intrinsic superconducting properties characterized by finite-momentum pairs. We attribute the high-field state to the helical superconducting state, wherein the phase of the order parameter is spontaneously spatially modulated.

Critical Current Density in d-Wave Hubbard Superconductors.

In this work, the Generalized Hubbard Model on a square lattice is applied to evaluate the electrical current density of high critical temperature d-wave superconductors with a set of Hamiltonian parameters allowing them to reach critical temperatures close to 100 K. The appropriate set of Hamiltonian parameters permits us to apply our model to real materials, finding a good quantitative fit with important macroscopic superconducting properties such as the critical superconducting temperature (Tc) and the critical current density (Jc). We propose that much as in a dispersive medium, in which the velocity of electrons can be estimated by the gradient of the dispersion relation ∇ε(k), the electron velocity is proportional to ∇E(k) in the superconducting state (where E(k)=(ε(k)-μ)2+Δ2(k) is the dispersion relation of the quasiparticles, and k is the electron wave vector). This considers the change of ε(k) with respect to the chemical potential (μ) and the formation of pairs that gives rise to an excitation energy gap Δ(k) in the electron density of states across the Fermi level. When ε(k)=μ at the Fermi surface (FS), only the term for the energy gap remains, whose magnitude reflects the strength of the pairing interaction. Under these conditions, we have found that the d-wave symmetry of the pairing interaction leads to a maximum critical current density in the vicinity of the antinodal k-space direction (π,0) of approximately 1.407236×108 A/cm2, with a much greater current density along the nodal direction (π2,π2) of 2.214702×109 A/cm2. These results allow for the establishment of a maximum limit for the critical current density that could be attained by a d-wave superconductor.

Enhancement of penetration field in vortex matter in mesoscopic superconductors due to Andreev bound states

We study the penetration field $H_{\rm P}$ for vortex nanocrystals nucleated in micron-sized samples with edges aligned along the nodal and anti-nodal directions of the d-wave superconducting parameter of Bi$_2$Sr$_2$CaCu$_2$O$_{8 - \delta}$. Here we present evidence that the $H_{\rm P}$ for nanocrystals nucleated in samples with edges parallel to the nodal direction is larger than for the antinodal case, $\sim 72$\,\% at low temperatures. This finding supports the theoretical proposal that surface Andreev bound states appearing in a sample with edges parallel to the nodal direction would produce an anomalous Meissner current that increases the Bean-Livingston barrier for vortex penetration.This has been detected thanks to the nucleation of vortex nanocrystals with a significant surface-to-volume ratio.

Strong long-range electron–phonon interaction as possible driving force for charge ordering in cuprates

A model resulting in charge ordering (CO) similar to that observed in cuprate superconductors is under study. It includes strong long-range electron–phonon interaction (EPI) and high density of correlated carriers. Coexistence of large bipolarons and delocalized carriers is a feature of such system. We develop generalized variation method to calculate the bipolaron size (CO period) in the ground normal state of such system at various doping. The approach allows the revealing of a possible physical reason of strongly different doping behavior of the CO wave vector in different cuprates. Obtained doping dependences of the CO period and temperature of the CO decay demonstrate quantitative agreement with those observed in cuprates. Predicted in the suggested approach ratio of the CO wave vector to the wave vector of the high-energy anomaly (HEA) in ARPES spectrum is in consent with that in cuprates. Calculated resonant x-rays scattering on the CO emerging in the model is in good agreement with experiments on cuprates including the asymmetry of the CO peaks’ cross-section. A gap arises in the spectrum of delocalized carriers near antinodal direction due to their scattering on the periodic potential created by autolocalized carriers, analogously to photon crystal effect.

Dispersion, damping, and intensity of spin excitations in the monolayer (Bi,Pb)2(Sr,La)2CuO6+δ cuprate superconductor family

Using Cu-$L_3$ edge resonant inelastic x-ray scattering (RIXS) we measured the dispersion and damping of spin excitations (magnons and paramagnons) in the high-$T_\mathrm{c}$ superconductor (Bi,Pb)$_{2}$(Sr,La)$_{2}$CuO$_{6+\delta}$ (Bi2201), for a large doping range across the phase diagram ($0.03\lesssim p\lesssim0.21$). Selected measurements with full polarization analysis unambiguously demonstrate the spin-flip character of these excitations, even in the overdoped sample. We find that the undamped frequencies increase slightly with doping for all accessible momenta, while the damping grows rapidly, faster in the (0,0)$\rightarrow$(0.5,0.5) nodal direction than in the (0,0)$\rightarrow$(0.5,0) antinodal direction. We compare the experimental results to numerically exact determinant quantum Monte Carlo (DQMC) calculations that provide the spin dynamical structure factor $S(\textbf{Q},\omega)$ of the three-band Hubbard model. The theory reproduces well the momentum and doping dependence of the dispersions and spectral weights of magnetic excitations. These results provide compelling evidence that paramagnons, although increasingly damped, persist across the superconducting dome of the cuprate phase diagram; this implies that long range antiferromagnetic correlations are quickly washed away, while short range magnetic interactions are little affected by doping.

Nature of the spin liquid in underdoped cuprate superconductors

In the present work we address a long standing problem of the magnetic ground state and magnetic excitations in underdoped cuprates. Modelling cuprates by the extended $t-J$ model we show that there is a hidden dimensionless parameter $\lambda$ which drives magnetic criticality at low doping $x$. Hence we derive the zero temperature $\lambda-x$ phase diagram of the model. It is argued that all underdoped cuprates are close to the quantum tricritical point $x=0$, $\lambda=1$. The three phases "meet" at the tricritical point: (i) N\'eel antiferromagnet, (ii) spin spiral with antinodal direction of the spiral wave vector, (iii) algebraic spin liquid. We argue that underdoped cuprates belong either to the spin liquid phase or they are on the borderline between the spin liquid and the spin spiral. We calculate the energy position $E_{cross}$ of the inelastic neutron scattering response maximum at ${\bm q}=(\pi,\pi)$ and compare our results with experiments. We also explain softening of magnons in the intermediate regime observed in inelastic neutron scattering.

Correlation between Fermi arc and charge order resulting from the momentum-dependent self-energy correction in cuprates

We calculate momentum-dependent self-energies due to self-consistent spin and charge-density fluctuations within a single-band Hubbard model for hole-doped cuprates. We find that the dynamical density instability (mainly paramagnonlike spin fluctuations) arising from the van Hove singularity at the antinodal point produces strongly anisotropic mass renormalization, increasing from the nodal direction to the antinodal one. This gives rise to a coherent Fermi arc pattern in which although the self-energy dressed Green's function has poles at all Fermi momenta, the corresponding spectral weight decreases from the nodal to the antinodal direction. We study the feedback effects of the anisotropic self-energy and Fermi arc on the charge-density wave (CDW) instability by direct computations of charge susceptibility and the quasiparticle interference pattern. We find that that due to the loss of spectral weight at the antinodal points, the CDW nesting weakens, and the corresponding hot spot shifts from the antinodal region to the tip of the Fermi arc below the magnetic Brillouin zone. The results are in good agreement with experiments, reproducing the observed slow doping dependence of the CDW wave vector. Our investigation therefore provides a mechanism for the Fermi arc in cuprates, with various testable predictions such as a sharp, first-order-like phase transition of the CDW order on the higher-doping side.

Switching dynamics of the spin density wave in superconducting CeCoIn5

The ordering wave vector $\mathbf{Q}$ of a spin density wave (SDW), stabilized within the superconducting state of $\mathrm{CeCoIn_5}$ in a high magnetic field, has been shown to be hypersensitive to the direction of the field. $\mathbf{Q}$ can be switched from a nodal direction of the $d$-wave superconducting order parameter to a perpendicular node by rotating the in-plane magnetic field through the antinodal direction within a fraction of a degree. Here, we address the dynamics of the switching of $\mathbf{Q}$. We use a free energy functional based on the magnetization density, which describes the condensation of magnetic fluctuations of nodal quasiparticles, and show that the switching process includes closing of the SDW gap at one $\mathbf{Q}$ and then reopening the SDW gap at another $\mathbf{Q}$ perpendicular to the first one. The magnetic field couples to $\mathbf{Q}$ through the spin-orbit interaction. Our calculations show that the width of the hysteretic region of switching depends linearly on the deviation of magnetic field from the critical field associated with the SDW transition, consistent with our thermal conductivity measurements. The agreement between theory and experiment supports our scenario of the hypersensitivity of the $Q$ phase on the direction of magnetic field, as well as the magnon condensation as the origin of the SDW phase in $\mathrm{CeCoIn_5}$.

Doping dependence of the magnetic excitations in La2−xSrxCuO4

The magnetic correlations within the cuprates have undergone intense scrutiny as part of efforts to understand high temperature superconductivity. We explore the evolution of the magnetic correlations along the nodal direction of the Brillouin zone in La2-xSrxCuO4, spanning the doping phase diagram from the anti-ferromagnetic Mott insulator at x = 0 to the metallic phase at x = 0.26. Magnetic excitations along this direction are found to be systematically softened and broadened with doping, at a higher rate than the excitations along the anti-nodal direction. This phenomenology is discussed in terms of the nature of the magnetism in the doped cuprates. Survival of the high energy magnetic excitations, even in the overdoped regime, indicates that these excitations are marginal to pairing, while the influence of the low energy excitations remains ambiguous.

Connection between in-plane upper critical fieldHc2and gap symmetry in layeredd-wave superconductors

Angle-resolved upper critical field $H_{c2}$ provides an efficient tool to probe the gap symmetry of unconventional superconductors. We revisit the behavior of in-plane $H_{c2}$ in $d$-wave superconductors by considering both the orbital effect and Pauli paramagnetic effect. After carrying out systematic analysis, we show that the maxima of $H_{c2}$ could be along either nodal or antinodal directions of a $d$-wave superconducting gap, depending on the specific values of a number of tuning parameters. This behavior is in contrast to the common belief that the maxima of in-plane $H_{c2}$ are along the direction where the superconducting gap takes its maximal value. Therefore, identifying the precise $d$-wave gap symmetry through fitting experiments results of angle-resolved $H_{c2}$ with model calculations at a fixed temperature, as widely used in previous studies, is difficult and practically unreliable. However, our extensive analysis of angle-resolved $H_{c2}$ show that there is a critical temperature $T^{*}$: in-plane $H_{c2}$ exhibits its maxima along nodal directions at $T < T^{*}$ and along antinodal directions at $T^{*} < T < T_c$. The concrete value of $T^{*}$ may change as other parameters vary, but the existence of $\pi/4$ shift of $H_{c2}$ at $T^{\ast}$ appears to be a general feature. Thus a better method to identify the precise $d$-wave gap symmetry is to measure $H_{c2}$ at a number of different temperatures, and examine whether there is a $\pi/4$ shift in its angular dependence at certain $T^{*}$. We further show that Landau level mixing does not change this general feature. However, in the presence of Fulde-Ferrell-Larkin-Ovchinnikov state, the angular dependence of $H_{c2}$ becomes quite complicated, which makes it more difficult to determine the gap symmetry by measuring $H_{c2}$.

Anisotropic softening of magnetic excitations in lightly electron-dopedSr2IrO4

The magnetic excitations in electron doped (Sr$_{1-x}$La$_x$)$_2$IrO$_4$ with $x = 0.03$ were measured using resonant inelastic X-ray scattering at the Ir $L_3$-edge. Although much broadened, well defined dispersive magnetic excitations were observed. Comparing with the magnetic dispersion from the parent compound, the evolution of the magnetic excitations upon doping is highly anisotropic. Along the anti-nodal direction, the dispersion is almost intact. On the other hand, the magnetic excitations along the nodal direction show significant softening. These results establish the presence of strong magnetic correlations in electron doped Sr$_{1-x}$La$_x$)$_2$IrO$_4$ with close analogies to the hole doped cuprates, further motivating the search for high temperature superconductivity in this system.

Quasiparticle scattering interference in electron-doped cuprate superconductors

By considering the nonmonotonic d-wave gap effect, the energy and momentum dependence of quasiparticle scattering interference is studied in the presence of a single impurity. It is shown that the pattern of the quasiparticle scattering peaks in the full Brillouin zone of electron-doped cuprate superconductors is very different from that in the hole-doped case described by the Octet model. This difference is the result of the nonmonotonic d-wave superconducting gap in the electron-doped case. As the energy increases, the position of the local peaks in the Brillouin zone moves rapidly. In particular, the characteristic peaks of the electron-doped cuprate superconductors appear between the antinodal and nodal directions, unlike in the hole-doped case.

Quasiparticle scattering interference in the renormalized Hubbard model

In this paper, we study the quasiparticle scattering interference phenomenon in the presence of a single impurity within the renormalized Hubbard model. By calculating the energy and momentum dependence of the Fourier-transformed local density of states in the full Brillouin zone, we can qualitatively describe the main features of the quasiparticle scattering interference phenomenon in cuprate superconductors using a single point-like impurity. In particular, we show that with increasing energy, the position of the peak along the nodal ([0, 0] → [π, π]) direction moves steadily to a large momentum region, while the position of the peak along the antinodal ([0, 0] → [π, 0]) direction moves toward the center of the Brillouin zone.

Self-energy effects in electronic Raman spectra of doped cuprates due to magnetic fluctuations

We present results for magnetic excitations in doped copper oxides using the random phase approximation and itinerant electrons. In the [1,0] direction the observed excitations resemble dispersive quasi-particles both in the normal and superconducting state similar as in recent resonant inelastic X-ray scattering (RIXS) experiments. In the [1,1] direction the excitations form, except for the critical region near the antiferromagnetic wave vector ${\bf Q}=(\pi,\pi)$, only very broad continua. Using the obtained spin propagators we calculate electron self-energies and their effects on electronic Raman spectra. We show that the recently observed additional peak at about twice the pair breaking in B$_{1g}$ symmetry below T$_c$ in HgBa$_2$CuO$_{4+\delta}$ can be explained as a self-energy effect where a broken Cooper pair and a magnetic excitation appear as final states. The absence of this peak in B$_{2g}$ symmetry, which probes mainly electrons near the nodal direction, is explained by their small self-energies compared to those in the antinodal direction.

Spontaneous fourfold-symmetry breaking driven by electron-lattice coupling and strong correlations in high-Tccuprates

Using dynamical-mean-field theory for clusters, we study the two-dimensional Hubbard model in which electrons are coupled with the orthorhombic lattice distortions through the modulation in the hopping matrix. Instability towards spontaneous symmetry breaking from a tetragonal symmetric phase to an orthorhombic distorted phase is examined as a function of doping and interaction strength. A very strong instability is found in the underdoped pseudogap regime when the interaction strength is large enough to yield the Mott insulating phase at half filling. The symmetry breaking accompanies the recovery of quasiparticle weights along one of the two antinodal directions, leading to the characteristic Fermi arc reconnection. We discuss the implications of our results to the fourfold symmetry breaking reported in systems where the underlying crystal does not have any structural anisotropy.

Role of the van Hove singularity in the quantum criticality of the Hubbard model

A quantum critical point (QCP), separating the non-Fermi liquid region from the Fermi liquid, exists in the phase diagram of the 2D Hubbard model [Vidhyadhiraja et. al, Phys. Rev. Lett. 102, 206407 (2009)]. Due to the vanishing of the critical temperature associated with a phase separation transition, the QCP is characterized by a vanishing quasiparticle weight. Near the QCP, the pairing is enhanced since the real part of the bare d-wave p-p susceptibility exhibits algebraic divergence with decreasing temperature, replacing the logarithmic divergence found in a Fermi liquid [Yang et. al, Phys. Rev. Lett. 106, 047004 (2011)]. In this paper we explore the single-particle and transport properties near the QCP. We focus mainly on a van Hove singularity (vHS) coming from the relatively flat dispersion that crosses the Fermi level near the quantum critical filling. The flat part of the dispersion orthogonal to the antinodal direction remains pinned near the Fermi level for a range of doping that increases when we include a negative next-near-neighbor hopping t' in the model. For comparison, we calculate the bare d-wave pairing susceptibility for non-interacting models with the usual two-dimensional tight binding dispersion and a hypothetical quartic dispersion. We find that neither model yields a vHS that completely describes the critical algebraic behavior of the bare d-wave pairing susceptibility. The resistivity, thermal conductivity, thermopower, and the Wiedemann-Franz Law are examined in the Fermi liquid, marginal Fermi liquid, and pseudo-gap doping regions. A negative next-near-neighbor hopping t' increases the doping region with marginal Fermi liquid character. Both T and negative t' are relevant variables for the QCP, and both the transport and the motion of the vHS with filling suggest that they are qualitatively similar in their effect.

Hole spectral functions in lightly doped quantum antiferromagnets

We study the hole and magnon spectral functions as a function of hole doping in the two-dimensional (2D) t-J and t-t'-t"-J models working within the limits of the spin-wave theory, by linearizing the hole-spin-deviation interaction and by adapting the non-crossing approximation (NCA). We find that the staggered magnetization decreases rather rapidly with doping and it goes to zero at a few percent of hole concentration in both t-J and the t-t'-t"-J model. We find that with doping, the residue of the quasiparticle peak at G=(pi/2,pi/2) decreases rapidly with doping and the spectral function is in agreement with high resolution angle-resolved photo-emission spectroscopy (ARPES) studies of the copper-oxide superconductors. The observed large shift of the chemical potential inside the Mott gap is found to be a result of broadening of the quasiparticle peak. We find pockets centered at G, similar to those observed by quantum oscillation measurements, (i) with an elliptical shape with large eccentricity along the anti-nodal direction in the case of the t-J model, and (ii) with an almost circular shape in the case of the t-t'-t"-J model. We also find that the spectral intensity distribution in the doped antiferromagnet has a waterfall-like patten along the nodal direction of the Brillouin zone, a feature that is also seen in ARPES measurements.

Nodal quasiparticle meltdown in ultrahigh-resolution pump–probe angle-resolved photoemission

High-$T_c$ cuprate superconductors are characterized by a strong momentum-dependent anisotropy between the low energy excitations along the Brillouin zone diagonal (nodal direction) and those along the Brillouin zone face (antinodal direction). Most obvious is the d-wave superconducting gap, with the largest magnitude found in the antinodal direction and no gap in the nodal direction. Additionally, while antinodal quasiparticle excitations appear only below $T_c$, superconductivity is thought to be indifferent to nodal excitations as they are regarded robust and insensitive to $T_c$. Here we reveal an unexpected tie between nodal quasiparticles and superconductivity using high resolution time- and angle-resolved photoemission on optimally doped Bi$_2$Sr$_2$CaCu$_2$O$_{8+\delta}$. We observe a suppression of the nodal quasiparticle spectral weight following pump laser excitation and measure its recovery dynamics. This suppression is dramatically enhanced in the superconducting state. These results reduce the nodal-antinodal dichotomy and challenge the conventional view of nodal excitation neutrality in superconductivity.

An electron–boson glue function derived from electronic Raman scattering

Raman scattering cross sections depend on photon polarization. In thecuprates, nodal and antinodal directions are weighted more strongly inB2g andB1g symmetries, respectively. On the other hand, in angle-resolved photoemissionspectroscopy (ARPES), electronic properties are measured along well-defineddirections in momentum space rather than their weighted averages being taken.In contrast, the optical conductivity involves a momentum average over theentire Brillouin zone. Newly measured Raman response data on high-qualityBi2Sr2CaCu2O8 + δ single crystals up to high energies have been inverted using amodified maximum entropy inversion technique to extract fromB1g andB2g Raman data corresponding electron–boson spectral densities (glue), and these are compared tothe results obtained with known ARPES and optical inversions. We find that theB2g spectrum agrees qualitatively with nodal direction ARPES while theB1g results look more like the optical spectrum. A large peak around 30–40 meV inB1g and a much lessprominent one in B2g are taken as support for the importance of(π, π) scattering at this frequency.