Quantum critical behaviour in a high-Tc superconductor

D. van der Marel (), H. J. A. Molegraaf, J. Zaanen, Z. Nussinov, F. Carbone, A. Damascelli, H. Eisaki, M. Greven, P. H. Kes and M. Li
Additional contact information
D. van der Marel: University of Groningen
H. J. A. Molegraaf: University of Groningen
J. Zaanen: Leiden University
Z. Nussinov: Leiden University
F. Carbone: University of Groningen
A. Damascelli: Stanford University
H. Eisaki: Stanford University
M. Greven: Stanford University
P. H. Kes: Leiden University
M. Li: Leiden University

Nature, 2003, vol. 425, issue 6955, 271-274

Abstract: Abstract Quantum criticality is associated with a system composed of a nearly infinite number of interacting quantum degrees of freedom at zero temperature, and it implies that the system looks on average the same regardless of the time- and length scale on which it is observed. Electrons on the atomic scale do not exhibit such symmetry, which can only be generated as a collective phenomenon through the interactions between a large number of electrons. In materials with strong electron correlations a quantum phase transition at zero temperature can occur, and a quantum critical state has been predicted1,2, which manifests itself through universal power-law behaviours of the response functions. Candidates have been found both in heavy-fermion systems3 and in the high-transition temperature (high-Tc) copper oxide superconductors4, but the reality and the physical nature of such a phase transition are still debated5,6,7. Here we report a universal behaviour that is characteristic of the quantum critical region. We demonstrate that the experimentally measured phase angle agrees precisely with the exponent of the optical conductivity. This points towards a quantum phase transition of an unconventional kind in the high-Tc superconductors.

Date: 2003
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DOI: 10.1038/nature01978

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