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Extensive Cu-NMR studies on multilayered high-Tc cuprates have deduced the following results;(1) Antiferromagnetic (AFM) moment M_{AFM} is decreased with doping, regardless of the number of CuO_2 layers n, and collapses around a carrier density N_h = 0.17. (2) The AFM ordering temperature is enhanced as the out-of-plane coupling J_{out} increases with increasing n. (3) The in-plane superexchange J_{in} is invariant with doping, but is even increased. (4) The dome shape of T_c from the underdoped to the overdoped regime with a maximum T_c at N_h = 0.22 does not depend on n, but its maximum value of T_c seems to depend on n moderately. The present results strongly suggest that the AFM interaction plays the vital role as the glue for the Cooper pairs, which will lead us to a genuine understanding of why the T_c of cuprate superconductors is so high.
We derive an expression for the effective Josephson coupling from the microscopic Hubbard model. It serves as a starting point for the description of phase fluctuations of local Cooper pairs in $d_{x^2-y^2}$-wave superconductors in the framework of an effective $XY$ model of plaquettes, the Josephson lattice. The expression for the effective interaction is derived by means of the local-force theorem, and it depends on local symmetry-broken correlation functions that we obtain using the cluster dynamical mean-field theory. Moreover, we apply the continuum limit to the Josephson lattice to obtain an expression for the gradient term in the Ginzburg-Landau theory and compare predicted London penetration depths and Kosterlitz-Thouless transition temperatures with experimental data for YBa$_2$Cu$_3$O$_{7-x}$.
Recent STM measurements have observed many inhomogeneous patterns of the local density of states on the surface of high-T_c cuprates. As a first step to study such disordered strong correlated systems, we use the BdG equation for the t-t-t-J model with an impurity. The impurity is taken into account by a local potential or local variation of the hopping/exchange terms. Strong correlation is treated by a Gutzwiller mean-field theory with local Gutzwiller factors and local chemical potentials. It turned out that the potential impurity scattering is greatly suppressed, while the local variation of hoppings/exchanges is enhanced.
A notable aspect of high-temperature superconductivity in the copper oxides is the unconventional nature of the underlying paired-electron state. A direct manifestation of the unconventional state is a pairing energy - that is, the energy required to remove one electron from the superconductor - that varies (between zero and a maximum value) as a function of momentum or wavevector: the pairing energy for conventional superconductors is wavevector-independent. The wavefunction describing the superconducting state will include not only the pairing of charges, but also of the spins of the paired charges. Each pair is usually in the form of a spin singlet, so there will also be a pairing energy associated with transforming the spin singlet into the higher energy spin triplet form without necessarily unbinding the charges. Here we use inelastic neutron scattering to determine the wavevector-dependence of spin pairing in La_{2-x}Sr_xCuO_4, the simplest high-temperature superconductor. We find that the spin pairing energy (or spin gap) is wavevector independent, even though superconductivity significantly alters the wavevector dependence of the spin fluctuations at higher energies.
We show that, at weak to intermediate coupling, antiferromagnetic fluctuations enhance d-wave pairing correlations until, as one moves closer to half-filling, the antiferromagnetically-induced pseudogap begins to suppress the tendency to superconductivity. The accuracy of our approach is gauged by detailed comparisons with Quantum Monte Carlo simulations. The negative pressure dependence of Tc and the existence of photoemission hot spots in electron-doped cuprate superconductors find their natural explanation within this approach.
We study the doping evolution of the electronic structure in the normal phase of high-$T_c$ cuprates. Electronic structure and Fermi surface of cuprates with single CuO$_2$ layer in the unit cell like La$_{2-x}$Sr$_x$CuO$_4$ have been calculated by the LDA+GTB method in the regime of strong electron correlations (SEC) and compared to ARPES and quantum oscillations data. We have found two critical concentrations, $x_{c1}$ and $x_{c2}$, where the Fermi surface topology changes. Following I.M. Lifshitz ideas of the quantum phase transitions (QPT) of the 2.5-order we discuss the concentration dependence of the low temperature thermodynamics. The behavior of the electronic specific heat $delta(C/T) sim (x - x_c)^{1/2}$ is similar to the Loram and Cooper experimental data in the vicinity of $x_{c1} approx 0.15$.