Field-induced quantum critical route to a Fermi liquid in high-temperature superconductors.
In high-transition-temperature (T(c)) superconductivity, charge doping is a natural tuning parameter that takes copper oxides from the antiferromagnet to the superconducting region. In the metallic state above T(c), the standard Landau's Fermi-liquid theory of metals as typified by the temperature squared (T(2)) dependence of resistivity appears to break down. Whether the origin of the non-Fermi-liquid behavior is related to physics specific to the cuprates is a fundamental question still under debate. We uncover a transformation from the non-Fermi-liquid state to a standard Fermi-liquid state driven not by doping but by magnetic field in the overdoped high-T(c) superconductor Tl(2)Ba(2)CuO(6+x). From the c-axis resistivity measured up to 45 T, we show that the Fermi-liquid features appear above a sufficiently high field that decreases linearly with temperature and lands at a quantum critical point near the superconductivity's upper critical field-with the Fermi-liquid coefficient of the T(2) dependence showing a power-law diverging behavior on the approach to the critical point. This field-induced quantum criticality bears a striking resemblance to that in quasi-two-dimensional heavy-Fermion superconductors, suggesting a common underlying spin-related physics in these superconductors with strong electron correlations.
Shibauchi
Takasada
T
Department of Physics, Kyoto University, Sakyo-ku, Kyoto 606-8502, Japan. shibauchi@scphys.kyoto-u.ac.jp
Krusin-Elbaum
Lia
L
Hasegawa
Masashi
M
Kasahara
Yuichi
Y
Okazaki
Ryuji
R
Matsuda
Yuji
Y
D016880:Anisotropy; D002627:Chemistry, Physical / Q000379:methods*; D006358:Hot Temperature; D008670:Metals; D008956:Models, Chemical; D008962:Models, Theoretical; D010100:Oxygen / Q000737:chemistry; D011789:Quantum Theory; D013696:Temperature; D044366:Transition Temperature
D008670:Metals; D010100:Oxygen