No Arabic abstract
We propose a hybridization phenomenology to describe the pseudogap state of the underdoped cuprates. We show how a momentum independent pseudogap opens asymmetrically from the Fermi-surface but symmetric to the zeroes of the hybridized bonding dispersion, which results in false d-wave characteristics of the pseudogap at the Fermi level. By comparing against a d-wave form factor we illustrate the difficulty in identifying a momentum independent order in momentum averaged quantities such as the electronic Raman response. We identify a suppression in the single-particle density of states which produces a hump feature which should be observable experimentally in tunnelling $dI/dV$ spectra and distinguishes the s-wave and d-wave ordering scenarios.
The resonating valence bond spin liquid model for the underdoped cuprates has as an essential element, the emergence of a pseudogap. This new energy scale introduces asymmetry in the quasiparticle density of states because it is associated with the antiferromagnetic Brillouin zone. By contrast, superconductivity develops on the Fermi surface and this largely restores the particle-hole symmetry for energies below the superconducting energy gap scale. In the highly underdoped regime, these two scales can be separately identified in the density of states and also partial density of states for each fixed angle in the Brillouin zone. From the total density of states, we find that the pseudogap energy scale manifests itself differently as a function of doping for positive and negative bias. Furthermore, we find evidence from recent scanning tunneling spectroscopy data for asymmetry in the positive and negative bias of the extracted $Delta(theta)$ which is in qualitative agreement with this model. Likewise, the slope of the linear low energy density of states is nearly constant in the underdoped regime while it increases significantly with overdoping in agreement with the data.
The phenomenological Greens function developed in the works of Yang, Rice and Zhang has been very successful in understanding many of the anomalous superconducting properties of the deeply underdoped cuprates. It is based on considerations of the resonating valence bond spin liquid approximation and is designed to describe the underdoped regime of the cuprates. Here we emphasize the region of doping, $x$, just below the quantum critical point at which the pseudogap develops. In addition to Luttinger hole pockets centered around the nodal direction, there are electron pockets near the antinodes which are connected to the hole pockets by gapped bridging contours. We determine the contours of nearest approach as would be measured in angular resolved photoemission experiments and emphasize signatures of the Fermi surface reconstruction from the large Fermi contour of Fermi liquid theory (which contains $1+x$ hole states) to the Luttinger pocket (which contains $x$ hole states). We find that the quasiparticle effective mass renormalization increases strongly towards the edge of the Luttinger pockets beyond which it diverges.
We present Raman experiments on underdoped and overdoped Bi2Sr2CaCu2O(8+d) (Bi-2212) single crystals. We reveal the pseudogap in the electronic Raman spectra in the B1g and B2g geometries. In these geometries we probe respectively, the antinodal (AN) and nodal (N) regions corresponding to the principal axes and the diagonal of the Brillouin zone. The pseudogap appears in underdoped regime and manifests itself in the B1g spectra by a strong depletion of the low energy electronic continuum as the temperature decreases. We define a temperature T* below which the depletion appears and the pseudogap energy, omegaPG the energy at which the depeletion closes. The pseudogap is also present in the B2g spectra but the depletion opens at higher energy than in the B1g spectra. We observe the creation of new electronic states inside the depletion as we enter the superconducting phase. This leads us to conclude (as proposed by S. Sakai et al.) that the pseudogap has a different structure than the superconducting gap and competes with it. We show that the nodal quasiparticle dynamic is very robust and almost insensitive to the pseudogap phase contrary to the antinodal quasiparticle dynamic. We finally reveal, in contrast to what it is usually admitted,an increase of the nodal quasiparticle spectral weight with underdoping. We interpret this result as the consequence of a possible Fermi surface disturbances in the doping range p=0.1-0.2.
We calculate the diffusion thermoelectric power of high-Tc cuprates using the resonating-valence-bond spin-liquid model developed by Yang, Rice and Zhang (YRZ). In this model, reconstruction of the energy-momentum dispersion results in a pseudogap in the density of states that is heavily asymmetric about the Fermi level. The subsequent asymmetry in the spectral conductivity is found to account for the large magnitude and temperature dependence of the thermopower observed in underdoped cuprates. In addition we find evidence in experimental data for electron pockets in the Fermi surface, arising from a YRZ-like reconstruction, near the onset of the pseudogap in the slightly overdoped regime.
We report electronic Raman scattering measurements on Bi$_2$Sr$_2$(Y$_{1-x}$Ca$_x$)Cu$_2$O$_{8+delta}$ single crystals at different doping levels. The dependence of the spectra on doping and on incoming photon energy is analyzed for different polarization geometries, in the superconducting and in the normal state. We find the scaling behavior of the superconductivity pair-breaking peak with the carrier concentration to be very different in B$_{1g}$ and B$_{2g}$ geometries. Also, we do not find evidence of any significant variation of the lineshape of the spectra in the overdoped region in both symmetries, while we observe a reduction of the intensity in B$_{2g}$ upon decreasing photon energies. The normal state data are analyzed in terms of the memory-function approach. The quasiparticle relaxation rates in the two symmetries display a dependence on energy and temperature which varies with the doping level.