Scaling of the strange-metal scattering in unconventional superconductors

Marked evolution of properties with minute changes in the doping level is a hallmark of the complex chemistry that governs copper oxide superconductivity as manifested in the celebrated superconducting domes and quantum criticality taking place at precise compositions1–4. The strange-metal state, in which the resistivity varies linearly with temperature, has emerged as a central feature in the normal state of copper oxide superconductors5–9. The ubiquity of this behaviour signals an intimate link between the scattering mechanism and superconductivity10–12. However, a clear quantitative picture of the correlation has been lacking. Here we report the observation of precise quantitative scaling laws among the superconducting transition temperature (Tc), the linear-in-T scattering coefficient (A1) and the doping level (x) in electron-doped copper oxide La2–xCexCuO4 (LCCO). High-resolution characterization of epitaxial composition-spread films, which encompass the entire overdoped range of LCCO, has enabled us to systematically map its structural and transport properties with unprecedented accuracy and with increments of Δx = 0.0015. We have uncovered the relations Tc ~ (xc – x)0.5 ~ (A1□)0.5, where xc is the critical doping in which superconductivity disappears and A1□ is the coefficient of the linear resistivity per CuO2 plane. The striking similarity of the Tc versus A1□ relation among copper oxides, iron-based and organic superconductors may be an indication of a common mechanism of the strange-metal behaviour and unconventional superconductivity in these systems.