Lulin Kuang

Kinetic-energy-driven superconductivity in cuprate superconductors

Superconductivity in cuprate superconductors occurs upon charge-carrier doping Mott insulators, where a central question is what mechanism causes the loss of electrical resistance below the superconducting (SC) transition temperature? In this review, we attempt to summarize the basic idea of the kinetic-energy driven SC mechanism in the description of superconductivity in cuprate superconductors. The mechanism of the kinetic-energy driven superconductivity is purely electronic without phonons, where the charge-carrier pairing interaction arises directly from the kinetic energy by the exchange of spin excitations in the higher powers of the doping concentration. This kinetic-energy driven d-wave SC-state is controlled by both the SC gap and quasiparticle coherence, which leads to that the maximal SC transition temperature occurs around the optimal doping, and then decreases in both the underdoped and overdoped regimes. In particular, the same charge-carrier interaction mediated by spin excitations that induces the SC-state in the particle-particle channel also generates the normal-state pseudogap state in the particle-hole channel. The normal-state pseudogap crossover temperature is much larger than the SC transition temperature in the underdoped and optimally doped regimes, and then monotonically decreases upon the increase of doping, eventually disappearing together with superconductivity at the end of the SC dome. This kinetic-energy driven SC mechanism also indicates that the strong electron correlation favors superconductivity, since the main ingredient is identified into a charge-carrier pairing mechanism not from the external degree of freedom such as the phonon but rather solely from the internal spin degree of freedom of the electron. The typical properties of cuprate superconductors discussed within the framework of the kinetic-energy driven SC mechanism are also reviewed.

Electronic structure of cuprate superconductors in a full charge-spin recombination scheme

Abstract A long-standing unsolved problem is how a microscopic theory of superconductivity in cuprate superconductors based on the charge-spin separation can produce a large electron Fermi surface. Within the framework of the kinetic-energy driven superconducting mechanism, a full charge-spin recombination scheme is developed to fully recombine a charge carrier and a localized spin into a electron, and then is employed to study the electronic structure of cuprate superconductors in the superconducting-state. In particular, it is shown that the underlying electron Fermi surface fulfills Luttinger’s theorem, while the superconducting coherence of the low-energy quasiparticle excitations is qualitatively described by the standard d-wave Bardeen–Cooper–Schrieffer formalism. The theory also shows that the observed peak-dip-hump structure in the electron spectrum and Fermi arc behavior in the underdoped regime are mainly caused by the strong energy and momentum dependence of the electron self-energy.

Doping dependence of thermodynamic properties in cuprate superconductors

Abstract The doping and temperature dependence of the thermodynamic properties in cuprate superconductors is studied based on the kinetic energy driven superconducting mechanism. By considering the interplay between the superconducting gap and normal-state pseudogap, the some main features of the doping and temperature dependence of the specific-heat, the condensation energy, and the upper critical field are well reproduced. In particular, it is shown that in analogy to the domelike shape of the doping dependence of the superconducting transition temperature, the maximal upper critical field occurs around the optimal doping, and then decreases in both underdoped and overdoped regimes. Our results also show that the humplike anomaly of the specific-heat near superconducting transition temperature in the underdoped regime can be attributed to the emergence of the normal-state pseudogap in cuprate superconductors.

Pseudogap-induced anisotropic suppression of electronic Raman response in cuprate superconductors

It has become clear that the anomalous properties of cuprate superconductors are intimately related to the formation of a pseudogap. Within the framework of the kinetic-energy-driven superconducting mechanism, the effect of the pseudogap on the electronic Raman response (ERR) of cuprate superconductors in the superconducting-state is studied by taking into account the interplay between the superconducting gap and pseudogap. It is shown that the low-energy spectra almost rise as the cube of energy in the channel and linearly with energy in the channel. It is also shown that the pseudogap is strongly anisotropic in momentum space, where the magnitude of the pseudogap around the nodes is smaller than that around the antinodes, which leads to that the low-energy spectral weight of the spectrum is suppressed heavily by the pseudogap, while the pseudogap has a more modest effect on the ERR in the orientation.

Dynamical spin response in cuprate superconductors from low-energy to high-energy

Abstract Within the framework of the kinetic energy driven superconducting mechanism, the dynamical spin response of cuprate superconductors is studied from low-energy to high-energy. The spin self-energy is evaluated explicitly in terms of the collective charge carrier modes in the particle–hole and particle–particle channels, and employed to calculate the dynamical spin structure factor. Our results show the existence of damped but well-defined dispersive spin excitations in the whole doping phase diagram. In particular, the low-energy spin excitations in the superconducting-state have an hour-glass-shaped dispersion, with commensurate resonance that appears in the superconducting-state only , while the low-energy incommensurate spin fluctuations can persist into the normal-state. The high-energy spin excitations in the superconducting-state on the other hand retain roughly constant energy as a function of doping, with spectral weights and dispersion relations comparable to those in the corresponding normal-state. The theory also shows that the unusual magnetic correlations in cuprate superconductors can be ascribed purely to the spin self-energy effects which arise directly from the charge carrier–spin interaction in the kinetic energy of the system.

Evolution of electron Fermi surface with doping in cobaltates

The notion of the electron Fermi surface is one of the characteristic concepts in the field of condensed matter physics, and it plays a crucial role in the understanding of the physical properties of doped Mott insulators. Based on the t-J model, we study the nature of the electron Fermi surface in the cobaltates, and qualitatively reproduce the essential feature of the evolution of the electron Fermi surface with doping. It is shown that the underlying hexagonal electron Fermi surface obeys Luttingers theorem. The theory also predicts a Fermi-arc phenomenon at the low-doped regime, where the region of the hexagonal electron Fermi surface along the [Formula: see text]-K direction is suppressed by the electron self-energy, and then six disconnected Fermi arcs located at the region of the hexagonal electron Fermi surface along the [Formula: see text]-M direction emerge. However, this Fermi-arc phenomenon at the low-doped regime weakens with the increase of doping.

Doping Dependence of Meissner Effect in Triangular-Lattice Superconductors

In the spin-excitation-mediated pairing mechanism for superconductivity, the geometric frustration effects not only the spin configuration but also the superconducting (SC)-state properties. Within the framework of the kinetic-energy-driven SC mechanism, the doping and temperature dependences of the Meissner effect in triangular-lattice superconductors are investigated. It is shown that the magnetic-field-penetration depth exhibits an exponential temperature dependence due to the absence of the d-wave gap nodes at the Fermi surface. However, in analogy to the dome-like shape of the doping dependence of the SC transition temperature, the superfluid density increases with the increasing doping in the lower-doped regime, and reaches a maximum around the critical doping, then decreases in the higher-doped regime.

Momentum and Doping Dependence of Spin Excitations in Electron-Doped Cuprate Superconductors

Superconductivity in copper oxides emerges on doping holes or electrons into their Mott-insulating parent compounds. The spin excitations are thought to be the mediating glue for the pairing in superconductivity. Here the momentum and doping dependence of the dynamical spin response in the electron-doped cuprate superconductors is studied based on the kinetic-energy-driven superconducting mechanism. It is shown that the dispersion of the low-energy spin excitations changes strongly upon electron doping; however, the hour-glass-shaped dispersion of the low-energy spin excitations appeared in the hole-doped case is absent on the electron-doped side due to the electron–hole asymmetry. In particular, the commensurate resonance appears in the superconducting state with the resonance energy that correlates with the dome-shaped doping dependence of the superconducting gap. Moreover, the spectral weight and dispersion of the high-energy spin excitations in the superconducting state are comparable with those in the corresponding normal state, indicating that the high-energy spin excitations do not play an important part in the pair formation.

Electron-momentum distribution of cuprate superconductors in a full charge-spin recombination scheme

A long-standing unsolved problem is how a microscopic theory of superconductivity in cuprate superconductors based on the charge-spin separation can produce a large electron Fermi surface (EFS). Within the framework of the kinetic-energy driven superconducting mechanism, a full charge-spin recombination scheme is developed to fully recombine a charge carrier and a localized spin into an electron, and then is employed to study the electron-momentum distribution in cuprate superconductors. In particular, the theory shows that the underlying EFS fulfills Luttinger’s theorem, and the sum rule for the constrained electron is obeyed.

High-energy magnetic excitations in cuprate superconductors

In this paper, the high-energy magnetic excitations in cuprate superconductors are studied based on the kinetic energy driven superconducting mechanism. The spin self-energy is evaluated explicitly in terms of the collective charge carrier modes in the particle–hole and particle–particle channels, and employed to calculate the dynamical spin structure factor. Our results show the existence of damped but well-defined dispersive spin excitations in the whole doping phase diagram. In particular, the charge carrier doping has a more modest effect on the high-energy spin excitations, and then the high-energy magnetic excitations retain roughly constant energy as a function of doping, with spectral weights and dispersion relations comparable to those found in the parent compound.