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

Nature Physics volume 7, pages 805–809 (2011)Cite this article

Abstract

High-transition-temperature 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)—the most striking example of which is the d -wave superconducting gap, with the largest magnitude found in the antinodal direction and no gap in the nodal direction. Furthermore, whereas antinodal quasiparticle excitations occur only below the transition temperature (Tc), superconductivity is thought to be indifferent to nodal excitations that are regarded as robust and insensitive to Tc. Here we reveal an unexpected link between nodal quasiparticles and superconductivity using high-resolution time- and angle-resolved photoemission on optimally doped Bi2Sr2CaCu2O8+δ. We observe a suppression of the nodal quasiparticle spectral weight following pump laser excitation, and measure its recovery dynamics. This suppression is greatly enhanced in the superconducting state. These results reduce the nodal–antinodal dichotomy and challenge the conventional view of nodal excitation neutrality in superconductivity.

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Figure 1: Nodal QP spectral weight suppression after an infrared pump pulse.
Figure 2: Comparison between equilibrium-temperature-driven and optical-pump-driven spectral-weight suppression.
Figure 3: Time dependence of the pump-induced spectral changes for an equilibrium temperature of T=20 K.

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Acknowledgements

We thank Z. Hussain for support in the initial stage of the project and J. Orenstein and W. Zhang for useful discussions. This work was supported by the Director, Office of Science, Office of Basic Energy Sciences, Materials Sciences and Engineering Division, of the US Department of Energy under Contract No. DE-AC02-05CH11231.

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Author notes

  1. J. Graf and C. Jozwiak: These authors contributed equally to this work

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Materials Sciences Division, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, California 94720, USA

    J. Graf, C. Jozwiak, R. A. Kaindl, D-H. Lee & A. Lanzara

  2. Advanced Light Source, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, California 94720, USA

    C. Jozwiak

  3. Department of Physics, University of California, Berkeley, California 94720, USA

    C. L. Smallwood, D-H. Lee & A. Lanzara

  4. Superconducting Electronics Group, Electronics and Photonics Research Institute, National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST), 1-1-1 Central 2, Umezono, Tsukuba, Ibaraki 305-8568, Japan

    H. Eisaki

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Contributions

J.G. and C.J. designed and built the laser-ARPES system. R.A.K. contributed to the design concept of the laser-ARPES system. J.G. carried out the experiment. J.G., C.J. and C.L.S. were responsible for data analysis. H.E. prepared the samples. A.L. was responsible for the experimental concept, planning, and infrastructure. All authors contributed to the interpretation and manuscript.

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Correspondence to A. Lanzara.

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Graf, J., Jozwiak, C., Smallwood, C. et al. Nodal quasiparticle meltdown in ultrahigh-resolution pump–probe angle-resolved photoemission. Nature Phys 7, 805–809 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1038/nphys2027

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