Resonance in Optimally Electron-Doped Superconductor Nd$_{1.85}$Ce$_{0.15}$CuO$_{4-delta}$

We use inelastic neutron scattering to probe magnetic excitations of an optimally electron-doped superconductor Nd$_{1.85}$Ce$_{0.15}$CuO$_{4-delta}$ above and below its superconducting transition temperature $T_c=25$ K. In addition to gradually opening a spin pseudo gap at the antiferromagnetic ordering wavevector ${bf Q}=(1/2,1/2,0)$, the effect of superconductivity is to form a resonance centered also at ${bf Q}=(1/2,1/2,0)$ but at energies above the spin pseudo gap. The intensity of the resonance develops like a superconducting order parameter, similar to those for hole-doped superconductors and electron-doped Pr$_{0.88}$LaCe$_{0.12}$CuO$_4$. The resonance is therefore a general phenomenon of cuprate superconductors, and must be fundamental to the mechanism of high-$T_c$ superconductivity.