Search arXiv⌕ Search

arXiv · cond-mat/0404216

Universal scaling relation in high-temperature superconductors

Abstract

Scaling laws express a systematic and universal simplicity among complex systems in nature. For example, such laws are of enormous significance in biology. Scaling relations are also important in the physical sciences. The seminal 1986 discovery of high transition-temperature (high-T_c) superconductivity in cuprate materials has sparked an intensive investigation of these and related complex oxides, yet the mechanism for superconductivity is still not agreed upon. In addition, no universal scaling law involving such fundamental properties as T_c and the superfluid density ρ_s, a quantity indicative of the number of charge carriers in the superconducting state, has been discovered. Here we demonstrate that the scaling relation ρ_s \propto σ_{dc} T_c, where the conductivity σ_{dc} characterizes the unidirectional, constant flow of electric charge carriers just above T_c, universally holds for a wide variety of materials and doping levels. This surprising unifying observation is likely to have important consequences for theories of high-T_c superconductivity.

Explore related subjects

Keep this discovery

Explore connections, maps & timelines

BibTeXRIS

C. C. Homes, S. V. Dordevic, M. Strongin, D. A. Bonn, Ruixing Liang, W. N. Hardy, Seiki Koymia, Yoichi Ando, G. Yu, X. Zhao, M. Greven, D. N. Basov, T. Timusk. 2004-04-08. Universal scaling relation in high-temperature superconductors. https://doi.org/10.1038/nature02673

Cite the original work for its findings. Save a collection to share your selection of sources.

KEEP EXPLORING

Related papers

Layer-Parity Control of the Superconducting Diode Effect in Monolayer NbSe$_2$

The superconducting diode effect is often associated with finite-momentum pairing, although model studies indicate that rectification reflects the asymmetry of the free energy about its minimum rather than the equilibrium pair momentum itself. Using a Wannier-based, self-consistent finite-$\mathbf Q$ Bogoliubov-de Gennes approach with a Fermi-surface-adaptive quadrature that converges the critical currents, we show that the layer parity and orientation of magnetic proximity select the diode response of monolayer NbSe$_2$. For in-plane exchange, the equilibrium pair momentum $\mathbf Q_{\rm eq}$ and the diode efficiency are both linear in the layer-odd exchange contrast: parallel proximity on the two Se sublayers is reciprocal, and antiparallel proximity doubles the response. An out-of-plane component separates the two observables. It leaves $\mathbf Q_{\rm eq}$ nearly unchanged but, through pair breaking, suppresses the efficiency by more than an order of magnitude and, at low temperature, reverses it. Purely out-of-plane exchange, for which $C_3$ symmetry forbids a helical term, keeps $\mathbf Q_{\rm eq}=0$ yet produces a trigonal diode effect, controlled by the layer-even exchange and larger than the in-plane one above $0.65$~meV at $0.58$~K. Magnetic layer parity thus selects between a helical and a trigonal diode channel. This trigonal channel provides a candidate intrinsic contribution to the field-free rectification reported in NbSe$_2$/CrBr$_3$. The model predicts that two-sided out-of-plane proximity cancels it when antiparallel and, at the same exchange per layer, enhances it about fourfold when parallel, in the computed range.

cond-mat.supr-con↗

Chiral superconductivity on a closed Klein bottle: a chirality wall and its Majorana seam spectrum

We study a spinless $π$-flux lattice superconductor whose normal-state momentum-space fundamental domain is a Klein bottle. Within this model, a glide lift and a hidden antiunitary symmetry independently force the Bogoliubov--de Gennes (BdG) Chern number to vanish. A diagonal pairing breaks the antiunitary obstruction exactly when its real part is nonzero; this is necessary, not sufficient, for a chiral phase. We derive explicit Pfaffians determining Chern parity and identify three analytic families of gap closings in a real-pairing section. For a chiral state on a closed real-space Klein bottle, the prescribed pairing and gluing produce a $ΔC=2$ chirality wall. A translation-invariant unfolding resolves two co-propagating Majorana branches. Their finite-size levels depend on circumference and holonomy; the near-zero pair is lifted at first order by allowed local seam perturbations. A cut-cylinder control has the same low-energy channel count, so gluing reconnects existing gapless content. We also distinguish literal gluing from deck projection: particle--hole symmetry exchanges the deck eigenblocks, precluding their interpretation as independent BdG quotient Hamiltonians. Finite odd-frequency correlations track holonomy and local splitting, while cylinder and ordinary-wall controls show that their presence is not specific to Klein gluing. The contribution is a model-specific account of pairing compatibility, closed-surface seam spectra and finite correlations. The energy cost is evaluated for a fixed pairing background; neither a protected zero mode nor a self-consistent wall solution is claimed.

cond-mat.supr-con↗

Electrically tunable superconducting dimensionality in stripe-ordered monolayer MoTe$_2$

Dimensionality governs the stability of collective quantum states, including whether Cooper pairs can establish the phase coherence required for superconductivity. In solids, however, electronic dimensionality is usually encoded in the crystal structure and is difficult to control reversibly. Here we show evidence that monolayer 1$T^{\prime}$-MoTe$_2$ develops a stripe charge-density wave that reorganizes its low-energy electronic states into quasi-one-dimensional channels. Raman spectroscopy and scanning tunneling microscopy identify the stripe order, whereas directional transport and tunneling spectroscopy reveal superconducting correlations confined to the stripe direction and insulating behavior perpendicular to it. Electrostatic doping weakens the transverse insulating response and drives the system into phase-coherent two-dimensional superconductivity. These results show that stripe charge order can reconfigure superconducting dimensionality and make it electrically tunable within a single crystalline layer.

cond-mat.supr-con↗