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Title: Quasiparticle damping in Bi sub 2 Sr sub 2 CaCu sub 2 O sub 8 and Bi sub 2 Sr sub 2 CuO sub 6

Journal Article · · Physical Review Letters; (United States)
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  1. Department of Physics, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida 32611 (United States) Department of Physics, State University of New York, Stony Brook, New York 11794 (United States) Grumman Corporate Research Center, Bethpage, New York 11714 (United States) National Synchrotron Light Source, Brookhaven National Laboratory, Upton, New York 11973 (United States)

The low-frequency conductivity {sigma}{sub 1}({omega}) of Bi{sub 2}Sr{sub 2}CaCu{sub 2}O{sub 8} has a Drude-like component below {ital T}{sub {ital c}}. Interpreting the width of this component as the quasiparticle relaxation rate ({tau}{sup {minus}1}), we find that {tau}{sup {minus}1} decreases dramatically just below {ital T}{sub {ital c}}, in sharp contrast with the {ital T}-linear {tau}{sup {minus}1} above {ital T}{sub {ital c}} and Bi{sub 2}Sr{sub 2}CuO{sub 6}. This decrease causes a peak in {sigma}{sub 1}({omega}{r arrow}0,{ital T}) for {ital T} just below {ital T}{sub {ital c}}, a peak which is due to the scattering rate and not to pair coherence effects, consistent with the lack of a coherence peak in the NMR relaxation rate. This result implies that the excitations which scatter the carriers are suppressed below {ital T}{sub {ital c}}.

OSTI ID:
5000503
Journal Information:
Physical Review Letters; (United States), Vol. 68:10; ISSN 0031-9007
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English