No Arabic abstract
In order to understand the material dependence of $T_c$ within the single-layered cuprates, we study a two-orbital model that considers both $d_{x^2-y^2}$ and $d_{z^2}$ orbitals. We reveal that a hybridization of $d_{z^2}$ on the Fermi surface substantially affects $T_c$ in the cuprates, where the energy difference $Delta E$ between the $d_{x^2-y2}$ and $d_{z^2}$ orbitals is identified to be the key parameter that governs both the hybridization and the shape of the Fermi surface. A smaller $Delta E$ tends to suppress $T_c$ through a larger hybridization, whose effect supersedes the effect of diamond-shaped (better-nested) Fermi surface. The mechanism of the suppression of d-wave superconductivity due to $d_{z^2}$ orbital mixture is clarified from the viewpoint of the ingredients involved in the Eliashberg equation, i.e., the Greens functions and the form of the pairing interaction described in the orbital representation. The conclusion remains qualitatively the same if we take a three-orbital model that incorporates Cu 4s orbital explicitly, where the 4s orbital is shown to have an important effect of making the Fermi surface rounded. We have then identified the origin of the material and lattice-structure dependence of $Delta E$, which is shown to be determined by the energy difference $Delta E_d$ between the two Cu3d orbitals (primarily governed by the apical oxygen height), and the energy difference $Delta E_p$ between the in-plane and apical oxygens (primarily governed by the interlayer separation $d$).
The origin of uniaxial and hydrostatic pressure effects on $T_c$ in the single-layered cuprate superconductors is theoretically explored. A two-orbital model, derived from first principles and analyzed with the fluctuation exchange approximation gives axial-dependent pressure coefficients, $partial T_c/partial P_a>0$, $partial T_c/partial P_c<0$, with a hydrostatic response $partial T_c/partial P>0$ for both La214 and Hg1201 cuprates, in qualitative agreement with experiments. Physically, this is shown to come from a unified picture in which higher $T_c$ is achieved with an orbital distillation, namely, the less the $d_{x^2-y^2}$ main band is hybridized with the $d_{z^2}$ and $4s$ orbitals higher the $T_c$. Some implications for obtaining higher $T_c$ materials are discussed.
Understanding the thermodynamic properties of high-$T_c$ cuprate superconductors is a key step to establish a satisfactory theory of these materials. The electronic specific heat is highly unconventional, distinctly non-BCS, with remarkable doping-dependent features extending well beyond $T_c$. The pairon concept, bound holes in their local antiferromagnetic environment, has successfully described the tunneling and photoemission spectra. In this article, we show that the model explains the distinctive features of the entropy and specific heat throughout the temperature-doping phase diagram. Their interpretation connects unambiguously the pseudogap, existing up to $T^*$, to the superconducting state below $T_c$. In the underdoped case, the specific heat is dominated by pairon excitations, following Bose statistics, while with increasing doping, both bosonic excitations and fermionic quasiparticles coexist.
Although charge density waves (CDWs) are omnipresent in cuprate high-temperature superconductors, they occur at significantly different wavevectors, confounding efforts to understand their formation mechanism. Here, we use resonant inelastic x-ray scattering to investigate the doping- and temperature-dependent CDW evolution in La2-xBaxCuO4 (x=0.115-0.155). We discovered that the CDW develops in two stages with decreasing temperature. A precursor CDW with quasi-commensurate wavevector emerges first at high-temperature. This doping-independent precursor CDW correlation originates from the CDW phase mode coupled with a phonon and seeds the low-temperature CDW with strongly doping dependent wavevector. Our observation reveals the precursor CDW and its phase mode as the building blocks of the highly intertwined electronic ground state in the cuprates.
Layered transition-metal dichalcogenides 1T-TaS2-xSex (0<=x<=2) single crystals have been successfully fabricated by using a chemical vapor transport technique in which Ta locates in octahedral coordination with S and Se atoms. This is the first superconducting example by the substitution of S site, which violates an initial rule based on the fact that superconductivity merely emerges in 1T-TaS2 by applying the high pressure or substitution of Ta site. We demonstrate the appearance of a series of electronic states in 1T-TaS2-xSex with Se content. Namely, the Mott phase melts into a nearly commensurate charge-density-wave (NCCDW) phase, superconductivity in a wide x range develops within the NCCDW state, and finally commensurate charge-density-wave (CCDW) phase reproduces for heavy Se content. The present results reveal that superconductivity is only characterized by robust Ta 5d band, demonstrating the universal nature in 1T-TaS2 systems that superconductivity and NCCDW phase coexist in the real space.
Single crystalline CaFe2As2 and (Ca1-xNax)Fe2As2 polycrystals (0 < x < 0.66) are synthesized and characterized using structural, magnetic, electronic transport, and heat capacity measurements. These measurements show that the structural/magnetic phas