Emergence of superconductivity in the cuprates via a universal percolation process.

ABSTRACT: A pivotal step toward understanding unconventional superconductors would be to decipher how superconductivity emerges from the unusual normal state. In the cuprates, traces of superconducting pairing appear above the macroscopic transition temperature T_c, yet extensive investigation has led to disparate conclusions. The main difficulty has been to separate superconducting contributions from complex normal-state behaviour. Here we avoid this problem by measuring nonlinear conductivity, an observable that is zero in the normal state. We uncover for several representative cuprates that the nonlinear conductivity vanishes exponentially above T_c, both with temperature and magnetic field, and exhibits temperature-scaling characterized by a universal scale Ξ₀. Att

SUBMITTER: Pelc D 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6193991 | biostudies-literature | 2018 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature