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Magic gap ratio for optimally robust superconductivity and its implications for high-Tc

N. M. Harrison, M. K. Chan

Published Oct 27, 2021• 0 citations
OpenAlex

Abstract

The cold atomic Fermi gas has become the essential paradigm for understanding the crossover between the weak coupling Bardeen-Schrieffer-Cooper (BCS) and strong coupling Bose-Einstein Condensation (BEC) regimes of paired fermion condensates. On tuning the pairing interactions through the crossover, a superfluid becomes optimally robust between the BCS and BEC regimes at what is referred to as the unitary point, giving rise to a maximally peaked phase transition anomaly in the specific heat. We find here, by tracing the jump $\Delta\gamma$ in the electronic specific heat coefficient $\gamma$ at the transition temperature $T_{\rm c}$ as a function of the gap ratio $2\Delta/k_{\rm B}T_{\rm c}$, that a similar thermodynamic signature occurs in the high-$T_{\rm c}$ superconducting cuprates. On taking $\Delta$ as the pairing gap in a cold atomic Fermi gas and as the antinodal pseudogap energy in the cuprates, we find $\Delta\gamma$ to be asymmetrically peaked at the same value of $2\Delta/k_{\rm B}T_{\rm c}\approx$ 6.5. Its observation in the cuprates and coincidence with a normal state maximum in $\gamma$ provides a previously overlooked thermodynamic signature of an optimally robust condensate at the BCS-BEC crossover.

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•Oct 27, 2021•1 citation

Magic Gap Ratio for Optimally Robust Fermionic Condensation and Its Implications for High−Tc Superconductivity

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The cold atomic Fermi gas has become the essential paradigm for understanding the crossover between the weak coupling Bardeen-Schrieffer-Cooper (BCS) and strong coupling Bose-Einstein Condensation (BEC) regimes of paired fermion condensates. On tuning the pairing interactions through the crossover, a superfluid becomes optimally robust between the BCS and BEC regimes at what is referred to as the unitary point, giving rise to a maximally peaked phase transition anomaly in the specific heat. We find here, by tracing the jump Δγ\Delta\gammaΔγ in the electronic specific heat coefficient γ\gammaγ at the transition temperature TcT_{\rm c}Tc​ as a function of the gap ratio 2Δ/kBTc2\Delta/k_{\rm B}T_{\rm c}2Δ/kB​Tc​, that a similar thermodynamic signature occurs in the high-TcT_{\rm c}Tc​ superconducting cuprates. On taking Δ\DeltaΔ as the pairing gap in a cold atomic Fermi gas and as the antinodal pseudogap energy in the cuprates, we find Δγ\Delta\gammaΔγ to be asymmetrically peaked at the same value of 2Δ/kBTc≈2\Delta/k_{\rm B}T_{\rm c}\approx2Δ/kB​Tc​≈ 6.5. Its observation in the cuprates and coincidence with a normal state maximum in γ\gammaγ provides a previously overlooked thermodynamic signature of an optimally robust condensate at the BCS-BEC crossover.
The cold atomic Fermi gas has become the essential paradigm for understanding the crossover between the weak coupling Bardeen-Schrieffer-Cooper (BCS) and strong coupling Bose-Einstein Condensation (BEC) regimes of paired fermion condensates. On tuning the pairing interactions through the crossover, the superfluid condensate becomes maximally robust between the BCS and BEC regimes at what is referred to as the unitary point, giving rise to a maximally peaked phase transition anomaly in the specific heat. We find here, by tracing the jump \Delta\gamma in the electronic specific heat coefficient \gamma at the transition temperature Tc as a function of the gap ratio 2\Delta/kTc, that this same thermodynamic signature occurs in the high-Tc superconducting cuprates. On taking \Delta as the pairing gap in a cold atomic Fermi gas and as the antinodal pseudogap energy in the cuprates, we find \Delta\gamma to be asymmetrically peaked at the same value 2\Delta/kTc~6.5. We show that the observation of this peak in the cuprates, and its coincidence with a normal state maximum in \gamma, provides a previously overlooked thermodynamic signature of condensation at a unitary point.
Bardeen-Schrieffer-Cooper (BCS) and Bose-Einstein condensation (BEC) occur at opposite limits of a continuum of pairing interaction strength between fermions. A crossover between these limits is readily observed in a cold atomic Fermi gas. Whether it occurs in other systems such as the high temperature superconducting cuprates has remained an open question. We uncover here unambiguous evidence for a BCS-BEC crossover in the cuprates by identifying a universal magic gap ratio 2Δ/k_{B}T_{c}≈6.5 (where Δ is the pairing gap and T_{c} is the transition temperature) at which paired fermion condensates become optimally robust. At this gap ratio, corresponding to the unitary point in a cold atomic Fermi gas, the measured condensate fraction N_{0} and the height of the jump δγ(T_{c}) in the coefficient γ of the fermionic specific heat at T_{c} are strongly peaked. In the cuprates, δγ(T_{c}) is peaked at this gap ratio when Δ corresponds to the antinodal spectroscopic gap, thus reinforcing its interpretation as the pairing gap. We find the peak in δγ(T_{c}) also to coincide with a normal state maximum in γ, which is indicative of a pairing fluctuation pseudogap above T_{c}.
We investigate the specific heat at constant volume CV{C}_{V}CV​ in the Bardeen-Cooper-Schrieffer--Bose-Einstein-condensate (BCS-BEC)-crossover regime of an ultracold Fermi gas above the superfluid phase transition temperature Tc{T}_{\mathrm{c}}Tc​. Within the framework of the strong-coupling theory developed by Nozi\`eres and Schmitt-Rink, we show that this thermodynamic quantity is sensitive to the stability of preformed Cooper pairs. That is, while ${C}_{V}(T\ensuremath{\gtrsim}{T}_{\mathrm{c}})$ in the unitary regime is remarkably enhanced by metastable preformed Cooper pairs or pairing fluctuations, it is well described by that of an ideal Bose gas of long-lived stable molecules in the strong-coupling BEC regime. Using these results, we identify the region where the system may be viewed as an almost ideal Bose gas of stable pairs, as well as the pseudogap regime where the system is dominated by metastable preformed Cooper pairs, in the phase diagram of an ultracold Fermi gas with respect to the strength of a pairing interaction and the temperature. We also show that the calculated specific heat agrees with the recent experiment on a 6Li^{6}\text{Li}6Li unitary Fermi gas. Since the formation of preformed Cooper pairs is a crucial key in the BCS-BEC-crossover phenomenon, our results would be helpful in considering how fluctuating preformed Cooper pairs appear in a Fermi gas to eventually become stable as one passes through the BCS-BEC-crossover region.
The condensation of paired fermions into superfluid states changes progressively depending on the coupling strength. At the midpoint of the crossover between Bardeen-Cooper-Schrieffer (BCS) weak-coupling and Bose-Einstein condensate (BEC) strong-coupling limits, paired fermions condensate most robustly, thereby leading to the emergence of a pseudogap due to enhanced pairing fluctuations. In the case of electrons in solids, excessively strong interactions often induce competing electronic orders instead of strong-coupling superconductivity, and experimental comprehension of the pseudogap remains incomplete. In this study, we provide experimental evidence demonstrating the opening of a pseudogap, marking the incipient stage of the BCS-BEC crossover in the organic system $\ensuremath{\kappa}\text{\ensuremath{-}}(\mathrm{BEDT}\text{\ensuremath{-}}{\mathrm{TTF})}_{2}X$. By controlling electron correlations, we investigate the thermodynamic properties of the BCS-BEC crossover and pseudogap phase. Since the superconductivity of $\ensuremath{\kappa}\text{\ensuremath{-}}{(\text{BEDT}\text{\ensuremath{-}}\mathrm{TTF})}_{2}X$ arises from a simple Fermi liquid that does not exhibit any other electronic orders, our study sheds light on the inherent nature of the BCS-BEC crossover.
We theoretically investigate the uniform spin susceptibility $\ensuremath{\chi}$ in the superfluid phase of an ultracold Fermi gas in the region of the Bardeen-Cooper-Schrieffer--Bose-Einstein-condensate (BCS-BEC) crossover. In our previous paper [H. Tajima et al., Phys. Rev. A 89, 033617 (2014)], including pairing fluctuations within an extended TTT-matrix approximation (ETMA), we showed that strong pairing fluctuations cause the so-called spin-gap phenomenon, where $\ensuremath{\chi}$ is anomalously suppressed even in the normal state near the superfluid phase transition temperature Tc{T}_{\mathrm{c}}Tc​. In this paper, we extend this work to the superfluid phase below Tc{T}_{\mathrm{c}}Tc​, to clarify how this many-body phenomenon is affected by the superfluid order. From the comparison of the ETMA $\ensuremath{\chi}$ with the Yosida function describing the spin susceptibility in a weak-coupling BCS superfluid, we identify the region where pairing fluctuations crucially affect this magnetic quantity below Tc{T}_{\mathrm{c}}Tc​ in the phase diagram with respect to the strength of a pairing interaction and the temperature. This spin-gap regime is found to be consistent with the previous pseudogap regime determined from the pseudogapped density of states. We also compare our results with a recent experiment on a 6Li^{6}\mathrm{Li}6Li Fermi gas. Since the spin susceptibility is sensitive to the formation of spin-singlet preformed pairs, our results would be useful for the study of pseudogap physics in an ultracold Fermi gas on the viewpoint of the spin degrees of freedom.
We investigate the uniform spin susceptibility ${\ensuremath{\chi}}_{\mathrm{s}}$ in the BCS (Bardeen-Cooper-Schrieffer)-BEC (Bose-Einstein condensation) crossover regime of an ultracold Fermi gas. Including pairing fluctuations within the framework of an extended TTT-matrix approximation, we show that ${\ensuremath{\chi}}_{\mathrm{s}}$ exhibits nonmonotonic temperature dependence in the normal state. In particular, ${\ensuremath{\chi}}_{\mathrm{s}}$ is suppressed near the superfluid phase transition temperature Tc{T}_{\mathrm{c}}Tc​ due to strong pairing fluctuations. To characterize this anomalous behavior, we introduce the spin-gap temperature Ts{T}_{\mathrm{s}}Ts​ as the temperature at which ${\ensuremath{\chi}}_{\mathrm{s}}$ takes a maximum value. Determining Ts{T}_{\mathrm{s}}Ts​ in the whole BCS-BEC crossover region, we identify the spin-gap regime in the phase diagram of a Fermi gas in terms of the temperature and the strength of a pairing interaction. We also clarify how the spin-gap phenomenon is related to the pseudogap phenomenon appearing in the single-particle density of states. Our results indicate that an ultracold Fermi gas in the BCS-BEC crossover region is a very useful system to examine the pseudogap phenomenon and the spin-gap phenomenon in a unified manner.