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Quantum critical behaviour in a high-Tc superconductor

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Abstract

Quantum criticality is associated with a system composed of a nearly infinite number of interacting quantum degrees of freedom at zero temperature, and it implies that the system looks on average the same regardless of the time- and length scale on which it is observed. Electrons on the atomic scale do not exhibit such symmetry, which can only be generated as a collective phenomenon through the interactions between a large number of electrons. In materials with strong electron correlations a quantum phase transition at zero temperature can occur, and a quantum critical state has been predicted1,2, which manifests itself through universal power-law behaviours of the response functions. Candidates have been found both in heavy-fermion systems3 and in the high-transition temperature (high-Tc) copper oxide superconductors4, but the reality and the physical nature of such a phase transition are still debated5,6,7. Here we report a universal behaviour that is characteristic of the quantum critical region. We demonstrate that the experimentally measured phase angle agrees precisely with the exponent of the optical conductivity. This points towards a quantum phase transition of an unconventional kind in the high-Tc superconductors.

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Figure 1: Optical properties along the copper-oxygen planes of Bi2Sr2Ca0.92Y0.08Cu2O8+δ for a selected number of temperatures.
Figure 2: Temperature/frequency scaling behaviour of the real part of the optical conductivity of Bi2Sr2Ca0.92Y0.08Cu2O8+δ.
Figure 3: Universal power law of the optical conductivity and the phase angle spectra of optimally doped Bi2Sr2Ca0.92Y0.08Cu2O8+δ.
Figure 4: Phase of σ(ω) of Bi2.23Sr1.9Ca0.96Cu2O8+δ at various doping levels.

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Acknowledgements

We thank C. M. Varma, P. Prelovsek, C. Pepin, S. Sachdev and A. Tsvelik for comments during the preparation of this work, and N. Kaneko for technical assistance. This investigation was supported by the Netherlands Foundation for Fundamental Research on Matter (FOM) with financial aid from the Nederlandse Organisatie voor Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek (NWO). The crystal growth work at Stanford University was supported by the Department of Energy's Office of Basic Energy Sciences, Division of Materials Science.

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Author notes

  1. D. van der Marel, H. J. A. Molegraaf & F. Carbone

    Present address: Département de Physique de la Matière Condensée, Université de Genève, CH-1211, Genève, 4, Switzerland

  2. Z. Nussinov

    Present address: Los Alamos National Laboratories, Los Alamos, New Mexico, 87545, USA

  3. A. Damascelli

    Present address: Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, V6T 1Z1, Canada

  4. H. Eisaki

    Present address: Low-Temperature Physics Group, National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology, Umezono, Tsukuba, 305-8568, Japan

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Materials Science Centre, University of Groningen, 9747 AG, Groningen, The Netherlands

    D. van der Marel, H. J. A. Molegraaf & F. Carbone

  2. Leiden Institute of Physics, Leiden University, 2300 RA, Leiden, The Netherlands

    J. Zaanen, Z. Nussinov, P. H. Kes & M. Li

  3. Department of Applied Physics and Stanford Synchrotron Radiation Laboratory, Stanford University, California, 94305, USA

    A. Damascelli, H. Eisaki & M. Greven

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  1. D. van der Marel
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  9. P. H. Kes
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  10. M. Li
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Correspondence to D. van der Marel.

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Marel, D., Molegraaf, H., Zaanen, J. et al. Quantum critical behaviour in a high-Tc superconductor. Nature 425, 271–274 (2003). https://doi.org/10.1038/nature01978

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