Vanishing of phase coherence in underdoped Bi2Sr2CaCu2O8+δ
Vanishing of phase coherence in underdoped Bi2Sr2CaCu2O8+δ
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DOI:
10.1038/18402
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发表时间:
1999-03-18
期刊:
影响因子:
64.8
通讯作者:
Bozovic, I
中科院分区:
文献类型:
--
作者:
Corson, J;Mallozzi, R;Bozovic, I
Although the binding of electrons into Cooper pairs is essential in forming the superconducting state, its remarkable properties-zero resistance and perfect diamagnetism-require phase coherence among the pairs as well. When coherence is lost at the transition temperature T-c, pairing remains, together with phase correlations which are finite in space and time. In conventional metals, Cooper pairs with short-range phase coherence survive no more than 1 K above T-c. In underdoped high-T-c copper oxides, spectroscopic evidence for some form of pairing is found up to a temperature T*, which is roughly 100 K above T-c (refs 1-3). How this pairing and Cooper-pair formation are related is a central problem in high-T-c superconductivity. The nature of this relationship hinges on the extent to which phase correlations accompany pairing in the normal state(4). Here we report measurements of high-frequency conductivity that track the phase-correlation time tau in the normal state of the Bi2Sr2CaCu2O8+delta,s family of underdoped copper oxide superconductors. Just above T-c,we find that tau reflects the motion of thermally generated topological defects in the phase, or vortices(5,6). However, vortex proliferation reduces tau to a value indistinguishable from the lifetime of normal-state electrons at 100 K, well below T*.