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Crossover from two-dimensional to three-dimensional superconducting states in bismuth-based cuprate superconductor

Nature Physics volume 16, pages 295–300 (2020)Cite this article

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Abstract

To decipher the mechanism of high-temperature superconductivity, it is important to know how the superconducting pairing emerges from the unusual normal states of cuprate superconductors1,2,3,4, including the pseudogap5,6, strange metal7,8 and anomalous Fermi liquid9 phases. A long-standing issue is how the superconducting pairing is formed and condensed in the strange metal phase, because this is where the superconducting transition temperature is highest. Here, we use state-of-the-art high-pressure measurements to report the experimental observation of a pressure-induced crossover from two- to three-dimensional (2D to 3D) superconducting states in optimally doped Bi2Sr2CaCu2O8 + δ bulk superconductor. By analysing the temperature dependence of the resistance, we find that the 2D superconducting transition exhibits a Berezinskii–Kosterlitz–Thouless-like behaviour10. The emergence of this 2D superconducting transition provides direct evidence that the strange metal state is predominantly 2D-like. This is important for a thorough understanding of the phase diagram of cuprate superconductors.

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Fig. 1: Characterization of the superconducting properties of optimally doped Bi2Sr2CaCu2O8 + δ under pressure.
Fig. 2: Rab, Rc and Δχ′ as a function of temperature for optimally doped Bi2Sr2CaCu2O8 + δ.
Fig. 3: Analysis of the 2D superconducting properties of optimally doped Bi2Sr2CaCu2O8 + δ.
Fig. 4: Pressure–TC phase diagram of optimally doped Bi2Sr2CaCu2O8 + δ.

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Data availability

The data represented in Figs. 1–4 are available with the online version of this paper. All other data that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding authors on request.

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Acknowledgements

We thank Q.-K. Xue, X.-C. Ma, J. Wang, D.-H. Lee, H. Yao and Z. Weng for helpful discussions. This work in China was supported by the National Key Research and Development Program of China (grants 2017YFA0302900, 2016YFA0300300 and 2017YFA0303103), the NSF of China (grants 11427805, U1532267 and 11604376) and the Strategic Priority Research Program (B) of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS, grant XDB25000000). J.G. is grateful for support from the Youth Innovation Promotion Association of CAS (2019008). The work at Brookhaven National Laboratory was supported by the Office of Basic Energy Sciences, Division of Materials Sciences and Engineering, US Department of Energy, under contract no. DE-SC0012704.

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Author notes

  1. These authors contributed equally: Jing Guo, Yazhou Zhou, Cheng Huang.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Physics, National Laboratory for Condensed Matter Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China

    Jing Guo, Yazhou Zhou, Cheng Huang, Shu Cai, Yutao Sheng, Chongli Yang, Gongchang Lin, Qi Wu, Tao Xiang & Liling Sun

  2. University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China

    Cheng Huang, Yutao Sheng, Gongchang Lin, Tao Xiang & Liling Sun

  3. Condensed Matter Physics & Materials Science Department, Brookhaven National Laboratory, Upton, NY, USA

    Genda Gu

  4. Shanghai Synchrotron Radiation Facilities, Shanghai, China

    Ke Yang & Aiguo Li

  5. Songshan Lake Materials Laboratory, Dongguan, Guangdong, China

    Tao Xiang & Liling Sun

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Contributions

L.S., T.X. and Q.W. designed the research. J.G., Y.Z., C.H., Y.S. and L.S. performed high-pressure resistance, magnetoresistance and a.c. susceptibility measurements. G.G. grew the single crystals. J.G., S.C., C.Y., G.L., K.Y. and A.L. carried out high-pressure X-ray diffraction measurements. L.S., Q.W., T.X., J.G. and Y.Z. wrote the paper. All authors analysed the data and discussed the results.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Liling Sun.

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The authors declare no competing interests.

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Peer review information Nature Physics thanks Derrick VanGennep, Maw-Kuen Wu and the other, anonymous, reviewer(s) for their contribution to the peer review of this work.

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Supplementary information

Supplementary Information

Supplementary Figs. 1–5.

Supplementary Data 1

Source data of Fig. S1.

Supplementary Data 2

Source data of Fig. S2.

Supplementary Data 3

Source data of Fig. S3.

Supplementary Data 4

Source data of Fig. S4.

Supplementary Data 5

Source data of Fig. S5.

Source data

Source Data Fig. 1

The characterizations of the superconducting properties for the optimally doped Bi2Sr2CaCu2O8+5 superconductors under pressure.

Source Data Fig. 2

Rab, Rc and Δχ′ as a function of temperature for the optimally-doped Bi2Sr2CaCu2O8+5 superconductor.

Source Data Fig. 3

Analyzing results of the 2D superconducting properties for the optimally-doped Bi2Sr2CaCu2O8+5 superconductors.

Source Data Fig. 4

Pressure-TC phase diagram established by the results obtained from different experimental runs for the optimally-doped Bi2Sr2CaCu2O8+5 superconductor.

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Guo, J., Zhou, Y., Huang, C. et al. Crossover from two-dimensional to three-dimensional superconducting states in bismuth-based cuprate superconductor. Nat. Phys. 16, 295–300 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41567-019-0740-0

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