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Pairing in a dry Fermi sea
T A Maier1, P Staar2, V Mishra3,4
1Computer Science and Mathematics Division, Center for Nanophase Materials Sciences, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, 1 Bethel Valley Road, PO Box 2008, Oak Ridge, Tennessee 37831-6494, USA.
Nature Communications
|June 18, 2016
Summary
In cuprate superconductors, pairing instability in the pseudogap regime arises from enhanced spin-fluctuation interactions, not the traditional Cooper instability. This occurs even without a complete Fermi sea.
Area of Science:
- Condensed Matter Physics
- Materials Science
Background:
- Traditional Bardeen-Cooper-Schrieffer theory explains superconductivity via Cooper instability, a log singularity in electron pair propagation due to the Fermi sea.
- In cuprate superconductors, the pseudogap regime features a destroyed Fermi surface, suppressing the Cooper instability and posing a challenge to understanding pairing mechanisms.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the mechanism of pairing instability in cuprate superconductors within the pseudogap regime.
- To contrast the pairing mechanism in the pseudogap regime with the traditional Cooper instability.
Main Methods:
- Numerical simulations using the Hubbard model.
- Analysis of experimental data from angular-resolved photoemission spectroscopy (ARPES) on cuprate superconductors.
Main Results:
- The Cooper log singularity is suppressed in the pseudogap regime due to the partial destruction of the Fermi surface.
- Pairing instability in this regime originates from an increasing spin-fluctuation pairing interaction strength as temperature decreases.
Conclusions:
- The mechanism for pairing instability in cuprate superconductors differs from the traditional Bardeen-Cooper-Schrieffer theory in the pseudogap regime.
- Spin fluctuations play a crucial role in mediating electron pairing in the absence of a complete Fermi sea.
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