A term first coined by Mott back in 1968 a `pseudogap is the depletion of the electronic density of states at the Fermi level, and pseudogaps have been observed in many systems. However, since the discovery of the high temperature superconductors (HTSC) in 1986, the central role attributed to the pseudogap in these systems has meant that by many researchers now associate the term pseudogap exclusively with the HTSC phenomenon. Recently, the problem has got a lot of new attention with the rediscovery of two distinct energy scales (`two-gap scenario) and charge density waves patterns in the cuprates. Despite many excellent reviews on the pseudogap phenomenon in HTSC, published from its very discovery up to now, the mechanism of the pseudogap and its relation to superconductivity are still open questions. The present review represents a contribution dealing with the pseudogap, focusing on results from angle resolved photoemission spectroscopy (ARPES) and ends up with the conclusion that the pseudogap in cuprates is a complex phenomenon which includes at least three different `intertwined orders: spin and charge density waves and preformed pairs, which appears in different parts of the phase diagram. The density waves in cuprates are competing to superconductivity for the electronic states but, on the other hand, should drive the electronic structure to vicinity of Lifshitz transition, that could be a key similarity between the superconducting cuprates and iron based superconductors. One may also note that since the pseudogap in cuprates has multiple origins there is no need to recoin the term suggested by Mott.
Angle resolved photoemission spectroscopy (ARPES) enables direct observation of the Fermi surface and underlying electronic structure of crystals---the basic concepts to describe all the electronic properties of solids and to understand the key electronic interactions involved. The method is the most effective to study quasi-2D metals, to which the subjects of almost all hot problems in modern condensed matter physics have happened to belong. This has forced incredibly the development of the ARPES method which we face now. The aim of this paper is to introduce to the reader the state-of-the-art ARPES, reviewing the results of its application to such topical problems as high temperature superconductivity in cuprates and iron based superconductors, and electronic ordering in the transition metal dichalcogenides and manganites.
We derive an effective quasiparticle tight-binding model which is able to describe with high accuracy the low-energy electronic structure of Sr2RuO4 obtained by means of low temperature angle resolved photoemission spectroscopy. Such approach is applied to determine the momentum and orbital dependent effective masses and velocities of the electron quasiparticles close to the Fermi level. We demonstrate that the model can provide, among the various computable physical quantities, a very good agreement with the specific heat coefficient and the plasma frequency. Its use is underlined as a realistic input in the analysis of the possible electronic mechanisms related to the superconducting state of Sr2RuO4.
Angle resolved photoemission spectroscopy (ARPES) reveals the features of the electronic structure of quasi-two-dimensional crystals, which are crucial for the formation of spin and charge ordering and determine the mechanisms of electron-electron interaction, including the superconducting pairing. The newly discovered iron based superconductors (FeSC) promise interesting physics that stems, on one hand, from a coexistence of superconductivity and magnetism and, on the other hand, from complex multi-band electronic structure. In this review I want to give a simple introduction to the FeSC physics, and to advocate an opinion that all the complexity of FeSC properties is encapsulated in their electronic structure. For many compounds, this structure was determined in numerous ARPES experiments and agrees reasonably well with the results of band structure calculations. Nevertheless, the existing small differences may help to understand the mechanisms of the magnetic ordering and superconducting pairing in FeSC.
As established by scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) cleaved surfaces of the high temperature superconductor YBa$_2$Cu$_2$O$_{7-delta}$ develop charge density wave (CDW) modulations in the one-dimensional (1D) CuO chains. At the same time, no signatures of the CDW have been reported in the spectral function of the chain band previously studied by photoemission. We use soft X-ray angle resolved photoemission (SX-ARPES) to detect a chain-derived surface band that had not been detected in previous work. The $2k_textup{F}$ for the new surface band is found to be 0.55,AA$^{-1}$, which matches the wave vector of the CDW observed in direct space by STM. This reveals the relevance of the Fermi surface nesting for the formation of CDWs in the CuO chains in YBa$_2$Cu$_2$O$_{7-delta}$. In agreement with the short range nature of the CDW order the newly detected surface band exhibits a pseudogap, whose energy scale also corresponds to that observed by STM.
Here we apply high resolution angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy (ARPES) using a wide excitation energy range to probe the electronic structure and the Fermi surface topology of the Ba1-xKxFe2As2 (Tc = 32 K) superconductor. We find significant deviations in the low energy band structure from that predicted in calculations. A set of Fermi surface sheets with unexpected topology is detected at the Brillouin zone boundary. At the X-symmetry point the Fermi surface is formed by a shallow electron-like pocket surrounded by four hole-like pockets elongated in G-X and G-Y directions.
The anomalous high-energy dispersion of the conductance band in the high-Tc superconductor Pb-Bi2212 has been extensively mapped by angle-resolved photoemission (ARPES) as a function of excitation energy in the range from 34 to 116 eV. Two distinctive types of dispersion behavior are observed around 0.6 eV binding energy, which alternate as a function of photon energy. The continuous transitions observed between the two kinds of behavior near 50, 70, and 90 eV photon energies allow to exclude the possibility that they originate from the interplay between the bonding and antibonding bands. The effects of three-dimensionality can also be excluded as a possible origin of the excitation energy dependence, as the large period of the alterations is inconsistent with the lattice constant in this material. We therefore confirm that the strong photon energy dependence of the high-energy dispersion in cuprates originates mainly from the photoemission matrix element that suppresses the photocurrent in the center of the Brillouin zone.
We present a photoemission study of La$_{0.8-x}$Eu$_{0.2}$Sr$_x$CuO$_{4}$ with doping level $x$=1/8, where the charge carriers are expected to order forming static stripes. Though the local probes in direct space seem to be consistent with this idea, there has been little evidence found for such ordering in quasiparticle dispersions. We show that the Fermi surface topology of the 1/8 compound develops notable deviations from that observed for La$_{2- x}$Sr$_x$CuO$_{4}$ in a way consistent with the FS reconstruction expected for the scattering on the antiphase stripe order.
We present a calculation of the Hall coefficient in 2H-TaSe2 and 2H-Cu0.2NbS2 relied on the photoemission data and compare the results to transport observations. The approach, based on the solution of the semiclassical Boltzmann equation in the isotropic tau-approximation yields high-temperature Hall coefficient consistent with the one measured directly. Taking into account the opening of the pseudogap and redistribution of the spectral weight, recently observed in angle resolved photoemission spectra of 2H-TaSe2, allows us to reproduce the temperature dependence of the Hall coefficient including prominent sign change with no adjustable parameters.
The mechanism of high temperature superconductivity is not resolved for so long because the normal state of cuprates is not yet understood. Here we show that the normal state pseudo-gap exhibits an unexpected non-monotonic temperature dependence, which rules out the possibility to describe it by a single mechanism such as superconducting phase fluctuations. Moreover, this behaviour, being remarkably similar to the behaviour of the charge ordering gap in the transition-metal dichalcogenides, completes the correspondence between these two classes of compounds: the cuprates in the PG state and the dichalcogenides in the incommensurate charge ordering state reveal virtually identical spectra of one-particle excitations as function of energy, momentum and temperature. These results suggest that the normal state pseudo-gap, which was considered to be very peculiar to cuprates, seems to be a general complex phenomenon for 2D metals. This may not only help to clarify the normal state electronic structure of 2D metals but also provide new insight into electronic properties of 2D solids where the metal-insulator and metal-superconductor transitions are considered on similar basis as instabilities of particle-hole and particle-particle interaction, respectively.
