Temperature Dependent Scattering Rates at the Fermi Surface of Optimally Doped Bi 2212

For optimally doped Bi 2212, scattering rates in the normal state are found to have a linear temperature dependence over most of the Fermi surface. In the immediate vicinity of the (1,0) point, the scattering rates are nearly constant in the normal state, consistent with models in which scattering at this point determines the c-axis transport. In the superconducting state, the scattering rates away from the nodal direction appear to level off and become temperature-independent.Comment: published version, 4 pages, 3 eps figures + 1 jpg figur

Charge-Density-Wave induced modifications to the quasiparticle self-energy in 2H TaSe2

The self-energy of the photo-hole in 2H-TaSe2 is measured by angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy (ARPES) as a function of binding energy and temperature. In the charge-density wave (CDW) state, a structure in the self- energy is detected at ~ 65 meV that can not be explained by electron-phonon scattering. A reduction in the scattering rates below this energy indicates the collapse of a major scattering channel with the formation of the CDW state, accompanying the appearance of a bosonic "mode" in the excitation spectrum of the system.Comment: 4 pages, 4 eps figures, minor changes, references adde

High-energy kink in high-temperature superconductors

In conventional metals, electron-phonon coupling, or the phonon-mediated interaction between electrons, has long been known to be the pairing interaction responsible for the superconductivity. The strength of this interaction essentially determines the superconducting transition temperature TC. One manifestation of electron-phonon coupling is a mass renormalization of the electronic dispersion at the energy scale associated with the phonons. This renormalization is directly observable in photoemission experiments. In contrast, there remains little consensus on the pairing mechanism in cuprate high temperature superconductors. The recent observation of similar renormalization effects in cuprates has raised the hope that the mechanism of high temperature superconductivity may finally be resolved. The focus has been on the low energy renormalization and associated "kink" in the dispersion at around 50 meV. However at that energy scale, there are multiple candidates including phonon branches, structure in the spin-fluctuation spectrum, and the superconducting gap itself, making the unique identification of the excitation responsible for the kink difficult. Here we show that the low-energy renormalization at ~50 meV is only a small component of the total renormalization, the majority of which occurs at an order of magnitude higher energy (~350 meV). This high energy kink poses a new challenge for the physics of the cuprates. Its role in superconductivity and relation to the low-energy kink remains to be determined.Comment: 13 pages, 4 figure

Quasi-Particle Spectra, Charge-Density-Wave, Superconductivity and Electron-Phonon Coupling in 2H-NbSe2

High-resolution photoemission has been used to study the electronic structure of the charge density wave (CDW) and superconducting (SC) dichalcogenide, 2H- NbSe2. From the extracted self-energies, important components of the quasiparticle (QP) interactions have been identified. In contrast to previously studied TaSe2, the CDW transition does not affect the electronic properties significantly. The electron-phonon coupling is identified as a dominant contribution to the QP self-energy and is shown to be very anisotropic (k-dependent) and much stronger than in TaSe2.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figures, minor changes, to appear in PR

Fine Details of the Nodal Electronic Excitations in Bi2_2Sr2_2CaCu2_2O8+δ_{8+\delta}

Very high energy resolution photoemission experiments on high quality samples of optimally doped Bi$_2$Sr$_2$CaCu$_2$O$_{8+\delta}$ show new features in the low-energy electronic excitations. A marked change in the binding energy and temperature dependence of the near-nodal scattering rates is observed near the superconducting transition temperature, $T_C$. The temperature slope of the scattering rate measured at low energy shows a discontinuity at ~$T_C$. In the superconducting state, coherent excitations are found with the scattering rates showing a cubic dependence on frequency and temperature. The superconducting gap has a d-wave magnitude with negligible contribution from higher harmonics. Further, the bi-layer splitting has been found to be finite at the nodal point.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figure

Quasiparticle Liquid in the Highly Overdoped Bi2212

We present results from the study of a highly overdoped (OD) Bi2212 with a $T_{c}=51$K using high resolution angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy. The temperature dependent spectra near the ($\pi,0$) point show the presence of the sharp peak well above $T_{c}$. From the nodal direction, we make comparison of the self-energy with the optimally doped and underdoped cuprates, and the Mo(110) surface state. We show that this OD cuprate appears to have properties that approach that of the Mo. Further analysis shows that the OD has a more $k$-independent lineshape at the Fermi surface than the lower-doped cuprates. This allows for a realistic comparison of the nodal lifetime values to the experimental resistivity measurements via Boltzmann transport formulation. All these observations point to the validity of the quasiparticle picture for the OD even in the normal state within a certain energy and momentum range.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figure

Coherence-Incoherence and Dimensional Crossover in Layered Strongly Correlated Metals

Correlations between electrons and the effective dimensionality are crucial factors that shape the properties of an interacting electron system. For example, the onsite Coulomb repulsion, U, may inhibit, or completely block the intersite electron hopping, t, and depending on the ratio U/t, a material may be a metal or an insulator. The correlation effects increase as the number of allowed dimensions decreases. In 3D systems, the low energy electronic states behave as quasiparticles (QP), while in 1D systems, even weak interactions break the quasiparticles into collective excitations. Dimensionality is particularly important for a class of new exotic low-dimensional materials where 1D or 2D building blocks are loosely connected into a 3D whole. Small interactions between the blocks may induce a whole variety of unusual transitions. Here, we examine layered systems that in the direction perpendicular to the layers display a crossover from insulating-like, at high temperatures, to metallic-like character at low temperatures, while being metallic over the whole temperature range within the layers. We show that this change in effective dimensionality correlates with the existence or non-existence of coherent quasiparticles within the layers

Extracting the electron--boson spectral function α2\alpha^2F(ω\omega) from infrared and photoemission data using inverse theory

We present a new method of extracting electron-boson spectral function $\alpha^2$F($\omega$) from infrared and photoemission data. This procedure is based on inverse theory and will be shown to be superior to previous techniques. Numerical implementation of the algorithm is presented in detail and then used to accurately determine the doping and temperature dependence of the spectral function in several families of high-T$_c$ superconductors. Principal limitations of extracting $\alpha^2$F($\omega$) from experimental data will be pointed out. We directly compare the IR and ARPES $\alpha^2$F($\omega$) and discuss the resonance structure in the spectra in terms of existing theoretical models