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Updated: Jun 14, 2026

Scalable Quantum Integrated Circuits on Superconducting Two-Dimensional Electron Gas Platform
Published on: August 2, 2019
Metal-insulator quantum critical point beneath the high Tc superconducting dome
Suchitra E Sebastian1, N Harrison, M M Altarawneh
1Cavendish Laboratory, JJ Thomson Avenue, University of Cambridge, Cambridge CB3 OHE, UK. ses59@cam.ac.uk
Abstract:
An enduring question in correlated systems concerns whether superconductivity is favored at a quantum critical point (QCP) characterized by a divergent quasiparticle effective mass. Despite such a scenario being widely postulated in high T(c) cuprates and invoked to explain non-Fermi liquid transport signatures, experimental evidence is lacking for a critical divergence under the superconducting dome. We use ultrastrong magnetic fields to measure quantum oscillations in underdoped YBa(2)Cu(3)O(6+x), revealing a dramatic doping-dependent upturn in quasiparticle effective mass at a critical metal-insulator transition beneath the superconducting dome. Given the location of this QCP under a plateau in T(c) in addition to a postulated QCP at optimal doping, we discuss the intriguing possibility of two intersecting superconducting subdomes, each centered at a critical Fermi surface instability.
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