Pseudogap phase of cuprate superconductors confined by Fermi surface topology.
basic_science · Level V
Where this comes from
- Record sourced from PubMed, PMID 29229909.
- Also identified by DOI 10.1038/s41467-017-02122-x and PMC identifier 5725553.
- Licence recorded as CC BY.
- The licence permits redistribution, so the abstract is shown in full and the full text is available from the publisher.
Abstract
The properties of cuprate high-temperature superconductors are largely shaped by competing phases whose nature is often a mystery. Chiefly among them is the pseudogap phase, which sets in at a doping p* that is material-dependent. What determines p* is currently an open question. Here we show that the pseudogap cannot open on an electron-like Fermi surface, and can only exist below the doping p <sub>FS</sub> at which the large Fermi surface goes from hole-like to electron-like, so that p* ≤ p <sub>FS</sub>. We derive this result from high-magnetic-field transport measurements in La<sub>1.6-x</sub> Nd<sub>0.4</sub>Sr <sub>x</sub> CuO<sub>4</sub> under pressure, which reveal a large and unexpected shift of p* with pressure, driven by a corresponding shift in p <sub>FS</sub>. This necessary condition for pseudogap formation, imposed by details of the Fermi surface, is a strong constraint for theories of the pseudogap phase. Our finding that p* can be tuned with a modest pressure opens a new route for experimental studies of the pseudogap.