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Direct spectroscopic evidence for phase competition between the pseudogap and superconductivity in Bi2Sr2CaCu2O8+δ

Nature Materials volume 14, pages 37–42 (2015)Cite this article

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Abstract

In the high-temperature (Tc) cuprate superconductors, a growing body of evidence suggests that the pseudogap phase1, existing below the pseudogap temperature T∗, is characterized by some broken electronic symmetries distinct from those associated with superconductivity2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12,13,14,15,16,17,18,19,20,21. In particular, recent scattering experiments have suggested that charge ordering competes with superconductivity18,19,20,21. However, no direct link of an interplay between the two phases has been identified from the important low-energy excitations. Here, we report an antagonistic singularity at Tc in the spectral weight of Bi2Sr2CaCu2O8+δ as compelling evidence for phase competition, which persists up to a high hole concentration p ~ 0.22. Comparison with theoretical calculations confirms that the singularity is a signature of competition between the order parameters for the pseudogap and superconductivity. The observation of the spectroscopic singularity at finite temperatures over a wide doping range provides new insights into the nature of the competitive interplay between the two orders and the complex phase diagram near the pseudogap critical point.

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Figure 1: Temperature dependence of the antinodal electronic states in optimally doped Bi2212.
Figure 2: Simulated temperature dependence of the antinodal spectra with the pseudogap, electron–boson coupling and superconductivity.
Figure 3: Doping dependence of competition between the order parameters for the pseudogap and superconductivity.
Figure 4: Superconductivity–pseudogap phase competition in Bi2212.

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Acknowledgements

We thank S. Kivelson, H. Yao, A. Millis, D. Scalapino, P. Hirshfeld, B. Markiewicz, D-H. Lee, L. Yu, A. Fujimori and N. Nagaosa for fruitful discussions. ARPES experiments were performed at the Stanford Synchrotron Radiation Lightsource, operated by the Office of Basic Energy Science, US DOE. This work is supported by DOE Office of Basic Energy Sciences, Materials Sciences and Engineering Division, under Contract DE-AC02-76SF00515.

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Author notes

  1. Elizabeth A. Nowadnick, Inna M. Vishik & Motoyuki Ishikado

    Present address: Present addresses: School of Applied and Engineering Physics, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York 14853, USA (E.A.N.); Department of Physics, Boston College, Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts 02467, USA (I.M.V.); Research Center for Neutron Science and Technology, Comprehensive Research Organization for Science and Society (CROSS), Tokai, Naka, Ibaraki 319-1106, Japan (M.I.).,

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Stanford Synchrotron Radiation Lightsource, SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory, Menlo Park, California 94025, USA

    Makoto Hashimoto, Robert G. Moore & Donghui Lu

  2. Stanford Institute for Materials and Energy Sciences, SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory, Menlo Park, California 94025, USA

    Elizabeth A. Nowadnick, Rui-Hua He, Inna M. Vishik, Brian Moritz, Yu He, Kiyohisa Tanaka, Robert G. Moore, Thomas P. Devereaux & Zhi-Xun Shen

  3. Geballe Laboratory for Advanced Materials, Stanford University, Stanford, California 94305, USA

    Elizabeth A. Nowadnick, Rui-Hua He, Inna M. Vishik, Yu He, Kiyohisa Tanaka, Thomas P. Devereaux & Zhi-Xun Shen

  4. Departments of Physics and Applied Physics, Stanford University, Stanford, California 94305, USA

    Elizabeth A. Nowadnick, Rui-Hua He, Inna M. Vishik, Yu He, Kiyohisa Tanaka & Zhi-Xun Shen

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

    Rui-Hua He & Zahid Hussain

  6. Department of Physics and Astrophysics, University of North Dakota, Grand Forks, North Dakota 58202, USA

    Brian Moritz

  7. Department of Physics, Osaka University, Toyonaka, Osaka 560-0043, Japan

    Kiyohisa Tanaka

  8. National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST), Tsukuba, Ibaraki 305-8568, Japan

    Yoshiyuki Yoshida, Motoyuki Ishikado & Hiroshi Eisaki

  9. Quantum Beam Science Directorate, Japan Atomic Energy Agency, Tokai, Ibaraki 319-1195, Japan

    Motoyuki Ishikado

  10. Materials and Structures Laboratory, Tokyo institute of Technology, Yokohama, Kanagawa 226-8503, Japan

    Takao Sasagawa

  11. Department of Physics, University of Tokyo, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo 113-0033, Japan

    Kazuhiro Fujita, Shigeyuki Ishida & Shinichi Uchida

  12. Department of Physics, Laboratory for Atomic and Solid State Physics, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York 14853, USA

    Kazuhiro Fujita

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Contributions

M.H., T.P.D. and Z-X.S. conceived the experiment. M.H., R-H.H., I.M.V., Y.H. and K.T. carried out ARPES measurements with the assistance of D.L. and R.G.M. M.H. analysed the data. Y.Y., M.I., T.S., K.F. and S.I. synthesized and characterized bulk single crystals. E.A.N., B.M. and T.P.D. performed theoretical calculations. All authors contributed to the scientific planning and discussions.

Corresponding authors

Correspondence to Makoto Hashimoto or Zhi-Xun Shen.

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Hashimoto, M., Nowadnick, E., He, RH. et al. Direct spectroscopic evidence for phase competition between the pseudogap and superconductivity in Bi2Sr2CaCu2O8+δ. Nature Mater 14, 37–42 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1038/nmat4116

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