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Effect of the pseudogap on the transition temperature in the cuprates and implications for its origin

Nature Physics volume 10, pages 357–360 (2014)Cite this article

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Abstract

Cuprates possess a large pseudogap that spans much of their phase diagram1,2. The origin of this pseudogap is as debated as the mechanism for high-temperature superconductivity. In one class of theories, the pseudogap arises from some instability not related to pairing, typically charge, spin or orbital current ordering. Evidence of this has come from a variety of measurements indicating symmetry breaking3,4,5,6. On the other side are theories where the pseudogap is associated with pairing. This ranges from preformed pairs7 to resonating valence bond theories where spin singlets become charge coherent8. Here, we study pairing in the cuprates by constructing the pair vertex using spectral functions derived from angle-resolved photoemission data. Assuming that the pseudogap is not due to pairing, we find that the superconducting instability is strongly suppressed, in stark contrast to what is actually observed. We trace this suppression to the destruction of the BCS logarithmic singularity from a combination of the pseudogap and lifetime broadening. Our findings strongly support those theories of the cuprates where the pseudogap is instead due to pairing.

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Figure 1: Dynamic spin susceptibility.
Figure 2: No superconductivity in the presence of a non-pairing pseudogap.
Figure 3: Suppression of Tc by a non-pairing pseudogap (weak coupling).
Figure 4: Suppression of Tc by a non-pairing pseudogap (strong coupling).

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Acknowledgements

The authors thank D. Scalapino for suggesting this work, and he and A. Chubukov for several helpful discussions. Work at Argonne was supported by the Centre for Emergent Superconductivity, an Energy Frontier Research Centre funded by the US DOE, Basic Energy Sciences, under Award No. DE-AC0298CH1088.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Materials Science Division, Argonne National Laboratory, Argonne, Illinois 60439, USA

    Vivek Mishra, J. C. Campuzano & M. R. Norman

  2. Department of Physics, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, Virginia 22904, USA

    U. Chatterjee

  3. Department of Physics, University of Illinois, Chicago, Illinois 60607, USA

    J. C. Campuzano

Authors
  1. Vivek Mishra
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  2. U. Chatterjee
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  3. J. C. Campuzano
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  4. M. R. Norman
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Contributions

V.M. and M.R.N. conceived the project, carried out the work, and wrote the paper. U.C. and J.C.C. provided the data as well as ideas for the data analysis.

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Correspondence to M. R. Norman.

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Mishra, V., Chatterjee, U., Campuzano, J. et al. Effect of the pseudogap on the transition temperature in the cuprates and implications for its origin. Nature Phys 10, 357–360 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1038/nphys2926

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