Author
Listed:
- Y. Kohsaka
(LASSP, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York 14853, USA
RIKEN, Wako, Saitama 351-0198, Japan)
- C. Taylor
(LASSP, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York 14853, USA)
- P. Wahl
(LASSP, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York 14853, USA)
- A. Schmidt
(LASSP, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York 14853, USA)
- Jhinhwan Lee
(LASSP, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York 14853, USA)
- K. Fujita
(LASSP, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York 14853, USA
University of Tokyo, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo 113-0033, Japan)
- J. W. Alldredge
(LASSP, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York 14853, USA
University of Colorado, Boulder, Colorado 80309, USA)
- K. McElroy
(University of Colorado, Boulder, Colorado 80309, USA)
- Jinho Lee
(LASSP, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York 14853, USA
School of Physics and Astronomy, University of St Andrews, North Haugh, St Andrews, Fife KY16 9SS, UK
Brookhaven National Laboratory, Upton, New York 11973, USA)
- H. Eisaki
(Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology, Tsukuba, Ibaraki 305-8568, Japan)
- S. Uchida
(University of Tokyo, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo 113-0033, Japan)
- D.-H. Lee
(University of California, Berkeley, California 94720, USA)
- J. C. Davis
(LASSP, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York 14853, USA
Brookhaven National Laboratory, Upton, New York 11973, USA)
Abstract
The antiferromagnetic ground state of copper oxide Mott insulators is achieved by localizing an electron at each copper atom in real space (r-space). Removing a small fraction of these electrons (hole doping) transforms this system into a superconducting fluid of delocalized Cooper pairs in momentum space (k-space). During this transformation, two distinctive classes of electronic excitations appear. At high energies, the mysterious ‘pseudogap’ excitations are found, whereas, at lower energies, Bogoliubov quasi-particles—the excitations resulting from the breaking of Cooper pairs—should exist. To explore this transformation, and to identify the two excitation types, we have imaged the electronic structure of Bi2Sr2CaCu2O8+δ in r-space and k-space simultaneously. We find that although the low-energy excitations are indeed Bogoliubov quasi-particles, they occupy only a restricted region of k-space that shrinks rapidly with diminishing hole density. Concomitantly, spectral weight is transferred to higher energy r-space states that lack the characteristics of excitations from delocalized Cooper pairs. Instead, these states break translational and rotational symmetries locally at the atomic scale in an energy-independent way. We demonstrate that these unusual r-space excitations are, in fact, the pseudogap states. Thus, as the Mott insulating state is approached by decreasing the hole density, the delocalized Cooper pairs vanish from k-space, to be replaced by locally translational- and rotational-symmetry-breaking pseudogap states in r-space.
Suggested Citation
Y. Kohsaka & C. Taylor & P. Wahl & A. Schmidt & Jhinhwan Lee & K. Fujita & J. W. Alldredge & K. McElroy & Jinho Lee & H. Eisaki & S. Uchida & D.-H. Lee & J. C. Davis, 2008.
"How Cooper pairs vanish approaching the Mott insulator in Bi2Sr2CaCu2O8+δ,"
Nature, Nature, vol. 454(7208), pages 1072-1078, August.
Handle:
RePEc:nat:nature:v:454:y:2008:i:7208:d:10.1038_nature07243
DOI: 10.1038/nature07243
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