Unconventional Low-Energy Excitations of Cuprate Superconductors

Abstract

Recent development in the physics of high-temperature cuprate superconductivity is reviewed, with special emphasis on the phenomena of unconventional and non-universal low-energy excitations of hole- and electron-type cuprate superconductors and the possible physical origin. A phenomenology based on coexisting competing orders with cuprate superconductivity in the ground state appears to provide consistent account for a wide range of experimental findings, including the presence (absence) of pseudogaps and Fermi arcs above the superconducting transition $T_c$ in hole-type (electron-type) cuprate superconductors and the novel conductance modulations below $T_c$, particularly in the vortex state. Moreover, the competing order scenario is compatible with the possibility of pre-formed Cooper pairs and significant phase fluctuations in cuprate superconductors. The physical implications of the unified phenomenology and remaining open issues for the microscopic mechanism of cuprate superconductivity are discussed.

Review article. 39 pages, 15 figures. (Fonts modified and abstract added)

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Cited by in corpus (5)

• Pair density wave, charge density wave and vortex in high Tc cuprates
• Measurement of a Sign-Changing Two-Gap Superconducting Phase in Electron-Doped Ba(Fe_{1-x}Co_x)_2As_2 Single Crystals using Scanning Tunneling Spectroscopy
• Pair-pair interactions as a mechanism for high-T${}_c$ superconductivity
• Spin-polarized tunneling spectroscopic studies of the intrinsic heterogeneity and pseudogap phenomena in colossal magnetoresistive manganite La_{0.7}Ca_{0.3}MnO_{3}
• Comparative studies of the scanning tunneling spectra in cuprate and iron-arsenide superconductors