Emergence of superconductivity in the cuprates via a universal percolation process

Abstract

A pivotal step toward understanding unconventional superconductors would be to decipher how superconductivity emerges from the unusual normal state upon cooling. In the cuprates, traces of superconducting pairing appear above the macroscopic transition temperature $T_c$, yet extensive investigation has led to disparate conclusions. The main difficulty has been the separation of superconducting contributions from complex normal state behaviour. Here we avoid this problem by measuring the nonlinear conductivity, an observable that is zero in the normal state. We uncover for several representative cuprates that the nonlinear conductivity vanishes exponentially above $T_c$, both with temperature and magnetic field, and exhibits temperature-scaling characterized by a nearly universal scale $T_0$. Attempts to model the response with the frequently evoked Ginzburg-Landau theory are unsuccessful. Instead, our findings are captured by a simple percolation model that can also explain other properties of the cuprates. We thus resolve a long-standing conundrum by showing that the emergence of superconductivity in the cuprates is dominated by their inherent inhomogeneity.

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• Percolative nature of the dc paraconductivity in the cuprate superconductors
• Scale-invariant magnetic textures in the strongly correlated oxide NdNiO${}_3$
• Resistivity phase diagram of cuprates revisited
• High-T${}_c$ cuprates: a story of two electron subsystems
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• From non-metal to strange metal at the stripe-percolation transition in La${}_{2-x}$Sr${}_x$CuO${}_4$
• Unravelling the mechanism of the semiconducting-like behavior and its relation to superconductivity in (CaFe${}_{1-x}$Pt${}_x$As)${}_{10}$Pt${}_3$As${}_8$
• Characterization of two electronic subsystems in cuprates through optical conductivity
• Effect of radiation-induced defects on the superfluid density and optical conductivity of overdoped La${}_{2-x}$Sr${}_x$CuO${}_4$
• Transport properties and doping evolution of the Fermi surface in cuprates
• Percolative Superconductivity in Electron-Doped Sr${}_{1-x}$Eu${}_x$CuO${}_{2+y}$ Films
• Anisotropic Time-Domain Electronic Response in Cuprates
• Unveiling the multiband metallic nature of the normal state in nickelate La3Ni2O7
• Doping-dependent phonon anomaly and charge-order phenomena in the HgBa${}_2$CuO${}_{4+\delta }$ and HgBa${}_2$CaCu${}_2$O${}_{6+\delta }$
• Nanoscale structural correlations in a model cuprate superconductor
• Theory of symmetry-resolved quench-drive spectroscopy: Nonlinear response of phase-fluctuating superconductors
• Comment on 'Temperature range of superconducting fluctuations above $T_c$ in YBa${}_2$Cu${}_3$O${}_{7-\delta }$ single crystals'
• On the dilemma between percolation processes and fluctuating pairs as the origin of the enhanced conductivity above the superconducting transition in cuprates
• Precursor superconducting effects in the optimally doped YBa${}_2$Cu${}_3$O${}_{7-\delta }$ superconductor: the confrontation between superconducting fluctuations and percolative effects revisited
• Empirical case for two pseudogaps in cuprate superconductors
• Quasi-${\Phi }_0$-periodic supercurrent at quantum Hall transitions
• Cuprates, Pnictides and Sulfosalts: Lessons in Functional Materials
• Phenomenological model for the third-harmonic magnetic response of superconductors: application to Sr${}_2$RuO${}_4$
• Synthesis of Murunskite Single Crystals: A Bridge Between Cuprates and Pnictides
• Superfluid response of two-dimensional filamentary superconductors
• Gap fluctuations, Cooper pairs with finite center-of-mass momentum, and suppression of superconductivity in inhomogeneous systems with dopant superpuddles agglomerates
• Signature of Unconventional Superconductivity in the High Temperature Normal State Resistivity