Theory of extrinsic and intrinsic tunnelling in cuprate superconductors

There has been a huge theoretical and experimental push to try to illuminate the mechanism behind the high-temperature superconductivity of copper oxides. Cuprates are distinguishable from conventional metallic superconductors in originating from the doping of the parent charge-transfer insulators. The superconducting parts are weakly coupled two-dimensional doped layers held together by the parent lattice. Apart from their high-T(c) they have other characteristic features including the 'superconducting' gap (SG) which develops below the superconducting critical temperature and can be seen in extrinsic and intrinsic tunnelling experiments as well as using high-resolution angle-resolved photoemission (ARPES); there also exists another energy gap, the 'pseudogap' (PG), which is a large anomalous gap that exists well above T(c). We present a brief review of recent theories behind the pseudogap and discuss in detail one specific (polaronic) approach which explains the SG, PG and unusual tunnelling characteristics of cuprate superconductors.