Image of the Energy Gap Anisotropy in the Vibrational Spectum of a High Temperature Superconductor

A notable aspect of high-temperature superconductivity in the copper oxides is the unconventional nature of the underlying paired-electron state. A direct manifestation of the unconventional state is a pairing energy - that is, the energy required to remove one electron from the superconductor - that varies (between zero and a maximum value) as a function of momentum or wavevector: the pairing energy for conventional superconductors is wavevector-independent. The wavefunction...

We show that the superconducting energy gap $\Delta$ can be directly observed in phonon spectra, as predicted by recent theories. In addition, since each phonon probes the gap on only a small part of the Fermi surface, the gap anisotropy can be studied in detail. Our neutron scattering investigation of the anisotropic conventional superconductor YNi$_2$B$_2$C demonstrates this new application of phonon spectroscopy.

The phase variation of the superconducting gap over the (normal) Fermi surface of the high-temperature superconductors remains a significant unresolved question. Is the phase of the gap constant, does it change sign, or is it perhaps complex? A detailed answer to this question would provide important constraints on various pairing mechanisms. Here we propose a new method for measuring the relative gap PHASE on the Fermi surface which is direct, is angle-resolved, and probes t...

We present time-of-fight neutron-scattering measurements on single crystals of $La_{2-x}Ba_{x}CuO_{4}$ (LBCO) with 0 $\leq$ x $\leq$ 0.095 and $La_{2-x}Sr_{x}CuO_{4}$ (LSCO) with x = 0.08 and 0.11. This range of dopings spans much of the phase diagram relevant to high temperature cuprate superconductivity, ranging from insulating, three dimensional (3D) commensurate long range antiferromagnetic order, for x $\leq$ 0.02, to two dimensional (2D) incommensurate antiferromagnetis...

Our inelastic neutron scattering experiments of the spin excitations in the slightly overdoped La{1.83}Sr{0.17}CuO{4} compound show that, under the application of a magnetic field of 5 Tesla, the low-temperature susceptibility undergoes a weight redistribution centered at the spin-gap energy. Furthermore, by comparing the temperature dependence of the neutron data with ac-susceptibility and magnetization measurements, we conclude that the filling in of the spin gap tracks the...

We report inelastic neutron scattering on single crystals of the bilayer cuprate family La$_{2-x}$Ca$_{1+x}$Cu$_{2}$O$_{6+\delta}$, including two crystals made superconducting (transitions at 45 and 55 K) by high-pressure annealing in an oxygen-containing atmosphere. The magnetic excitations in the non-superconducting crystal have a similar temperature-dependence as those in weakly hole-doped cuprates. In the superconducting crystals, there is a near-uniform suppression of th...

Neutron crystal-field spectroscopy experiments in the Y- and La-type high-temperature superconductors HoBa2Cu3O6.56, HoBa2Cu4O8, and La1.81Sr0.15Ho0.04CuO4 are reviewed. By this bulk-sensitive technique, information on the gap function is obtained from the relaxation behavior of crystal-field transitions associated with the Ho3+ ions which sit as local probes close to the superconducting copper-oxide planes. The relaxation data exhibit a peculiar change from a convex to a con...

I present the detailed behavior of phonon dispersion curves near momenta which span the electronic Fermi sea in a superconductor. I demonstrate that an anomaly, similar to the metallic Kohn anomaly, exists in a superconductor's dispersion curves when the frequency of the phonon spanning the Fermi sea exceeds twice the superconducting energy gap. This anomaly occurs at approximately the same momentum but is {\it stronger} than the normal-state Kohn anomaly. It also survives at...

We present high-resolution triple-axis neutron scattering studies of the high-temperature superconductor La1.88Sr0.12CuO4 (Tc=27 K). The temperature dependence of the low-energy incommensurate magnetic fluctuations reveals distinctly glassy features. The glassiness is confirmed by the difference between the ordering temperature TN ~ Tc inferred from elastic neutron scattering and the freezing temperature Tf ~ 11 K obtained from muon spin rotation studies. The magnetic field i...

Inelastic neutron scattering is used to investigate the collective magnetic excitations of the high-temperature superconductor parent antiferromagnet La2CuO4. We find that while the lower energy excitations are well described by spin-wave theory, including one- and two-magnon scattering processes, the high-energy spin waves are strongly damped near the (1/2,0) position in reciprocal space and merge into a momentum dependent continuum. This anomalous damping indicates the deca...