Motoyuki Ishikado

From a single-band metal to a high-temperature superconductor via two thermal phase transitions.

Three techniques are used to probe the pseudogap state of cuprate high-temperature superconductors. The nature of the pseudogap phase of cuprate high-temperature superconductors is a major unsolved problem in condensed matter physics. We studied the commencement of the pseudogap state at temperature T* using three different techniques (angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy, polar Kerr effect, and time-resolved reflectivity) on the same optimally doped Bi2201 crystals. We observed the coincident, abrupt onset at T* of a particle-hole asymmetric antinodal gap in the electronic spectrum, a Kerr rotation in the reflected light polarization, and a change in the ultrafast relaxational dynamics, consistent with a phase transition. Upon further cooling, spectroscopic signatures of superconductivity begin to grow close to the superconducting transition temperature (Tc), entangled in an energy-momentum–dependent manner with the preexisting pseudogap features, ushering in a ground state with coexisting orders.

Microwave penetration depth and quasiparticle conductivity of PrFeAsO1-y single crystals: evidence for a full-gap superconductor.

In-plane microwave penetration depth lambda_{ab} and quasiparticle conductivity at 28 GHz are measured in underdoped single crystals of the Fe-based superconductor PrFeAsO_{1-y} (T_{c} approximately 35 K) by using a sensitive superconducting cavity resonator. lambda_{ab}(T) shows flat dependence at low temperatures, which is incompatible with the presence of nodes in the superconducting gap Delta(k). The temperature dependence of the superfluid density demonstrates that the gap is nonzero (Delta/k_{B}T_{c} greater, similar1.6) all over the Fermi surface. The microwave conductivity below T_{c} exhibits an enhancement larger than the coherence peak, reminiscent of high-T_{c} cuprate superconductors.

Phase Competition in Trisected Superconducting Dome

A detailed phenomenology of low energy excitations is a crucial starting point for microscopic understanding of complex materials, such as the cuprate high-temperature superconductors. Because of its unique momentum-space discrimination, angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy (ARPES) is ideally suited for this task in the cuprates, where emergent phases, particularly superconductivity and the pseudogap, have anisotropic gap structure in momentum space. We present a comprehensive doping- and temperature-dependence ARPES study of spectral gaps in Bi2Sr2CaCu2O8+δ, covering much of the superconducting portion of the phase diagram. In the ground state, abrupt changes in near-nodal gap phenomenology give spectroscopic evidence for two potential quantum critical points, p = 0.19 for the pseudogap phase and p = 0.076 for another competing phase. Temperature dependence reveals that the pseudogap is not static below Tc and exists p > 0.19 at higher temperatures. Our data imply a revised phase diagram that reconciles conflicting reports about the endpoint of the pseudogap in the literature, incorporates phase competition between the superconducting gap and pseudogap, and highlights distinct physics at the edge of the superconducting dome.

Direct spectroscopic evidence for phase competition between the pseudogap and superconductivity in Bi2Sr2CaCu2O8+δ

In the high-temperature (T(c)) cuprate superconductors, a growing body of evidence suggests that the pseudogap phase, existing below the pseudogap temperature T*, is characterized by some broken electronic symmetries distinct from those associated with superconductivity. In particular, recent scattering experiments have suggested that charge ordering competes with superconductivity. However, no direct link of an interplay between the two phases has been identified from the important low-energy excitations. Here, we report an antagonistic singularity at T(c) in the spectral weight of Bi2Sr2CaCu2O(8+δ) as compelling evidence for phase competition, which persists up to a high hole concentration p ~ 0.22. Comparison with theoretical calculations confirms that the singularity is a signature of competition between the order parameters for the pseudogap and superconductivity. The observation of the spectroscopic singularity at finite temperatures over a wide doping range provides new insights into the nature of the competitive interplay between the two orders and the complex phase diagram near the pseudogap critical point.

Flux pinning in PrFeAsO0.9 and NdFeAsO0.9F0.1 superconducting crystals

Local magnetic measurements are used to quantitatively characterize heterogeneity and flux line pinning in PrFeAsO_1-y and NdFeAs(O,F) superconducting single crystals. In spite of spatial fluctuations of the critical current density on the macroscopic scale, it is shown that the major contribution comes from collective pinning of vortex lines by microscopic defects by the mean-free path fluctuation mechanism. The defect density extracted from experiment corresponds to the dopant atom density, which means that dopant atoms play an important role both in vortex pinning and in quasiparticle scattering. In the studied underdoped PrFeAsO_1-y and NdFeAs(O,F) crystals, there is a background of strong pinning, which we attribute to spatial variations of the dopant atom density on the scale of a few dozen to one hundred nm. These variations do not go beyond 5% - we therefore do not find any evidence for coexistence of the superconducting and the antiferromagnetic phase. The critical current density in sub-T fields is characterized by the presence of a peak effect, the location of which in the (B,T)-plane is consistent with an order-disorder transition of the vortex lattice.

Lattice Dynamics of LaFeAsO1-xFx and PrFeAsO1-y via Inelastic X-Ray Scattering and First-Principles Calculation

The lattice dynamics of LaFeAsO 1- x F x ( x =0,0.1) and PrFeAsO 1- y ( y ∼0.1) are investigated using inelastic x-ray scattering and ab-initio calculation. Measurements of powder samples provide an approximation to the phonon DOS, while dispersion is measured from a single crystal of PrFeAsO 1- y . A model that agrees reasonably well with all of the data at room temperature is built from results of ab-initio calculations by reducing the strength of the Fe–As bond by 30%.The lattice dynamics of LaFeAsO 1- x F x ( x =0,0.1) and PrFeAsO 1- y ( y ∼0.1) are investigated using inelastic x-ray scattering and ab-initio calculation. Measurements of powder samples provide an approximation to the phonon DOS, while dispersion is measured from a single crystal of PrFeAsO 1- y . A model that agrees reasonably well with all of the data at room temperature is built from results of ab-initio calculations by reducing the strength of the Fe–As bond by 30%.

Inelastic neutron scattering study on the resonance mode in an optimally doped superconductor LaFeAsO0.92F0.08

An optimally doped iron-based superconductor

Lower critical fields of superconducting PrFeAsO1-y single crystals

{\text{LaFeAsO}}_{0.92}{\text{F}}_{0.08}

Two-Dimensional Spin Density Wave State in LaFeAsO

with

Unmasking the Nodal Quasiparticle Dynamics in Cuprate Superconductors Using Low-Energy Photoemission

{T}_{c}=29\text{ }\text{K}