Imaging the granular structure of high-Tc superconductivity in underdoped Bi2Sr2CaCu2O8+δ

K. M. Lang, V. Madhavan, J. E. Hoffman, E. W. Hudson, H. Eisaki, S. Uchida and J. C. Davis ()
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K. M. Lang: University of California
V. Madhavan: University of California
J. E. Hoffman: University of California
E. W. Hudson: University of California
H. Eisaki: University of Tokyo
S. Uchida: University of Tokyo
J. C. Davis: University of California

Nature, 2002, vol. 415, issue 6870, 412-416

Abstract: Abstract Granular superconductivity occurs when microscopic superconducting grains are separated by non-superconducting regions; Josephson tunnelling between the grains establishes the macroscopic superconducting state1. Although crystals of the copper oxide high-transition-temperature (high-Tc) superconductors are not granular in a structural sense, theory suggests that at low levels of hole doping the holes can become concentrated at certain locations resulting in hole-rich superconducting domains2,3,4,5. Granular superconductivity arising from tunnelling between such domains would represent a new view of the underdoped copper oxide superconductors. Here we report scanning tunnelling microscope studies of underdoped Bi2Sr2CaCu2O8+δ that reveal an apparent segregation of the electronic structure into superconducting domains that are ∼3 nm in size (and local energy gap 50 ± 2.5 meV. These observations suggest that underdoped Bi2Sr2CaCu2O8+δ is a mixture of two different short-range electronic orders with the long-range characteristics of a granular superconductor.

Date: 2002
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DOI: 10.1038/415412a

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