Twin spin/charge roton mode and superfluid density: primary determining factors of $T_{c}$ in high-$T_{c}$ superconductors observed by neutron, ARPES, and $μ$SR

Abstract

In the quest for primary factors which determine the transition temperature $T_{c}$ of high-$T_{c}$ cuprate superconductors (HTSC), we develop a phenomenological picture combining experimental results from muon spin relaxation ($μ$SR), neutron and Raman scattering, and angle-resolved photoemission (ARPES) measurements, guided by an analogy with superfluid $^{4}$He. The 41 meV neutron resonance mode and the ARPES superconducting coherence peak (SCP) can be viewed as direct observations of spin and charge soft modes, respectively, appearing near ($π,π$) and the center of the Brillouin zone, having identical energy transfers and dispersion relations. We present a conjecture that the mode energy of this twin spin/charge collective excitation, as a roton analogue in HTSC, plays a primary role in determining $T_{c}$, together with the superfluid density $n_{s}/m^{*}$ at $T \to 0$. We further propose a microscopic model for pairing based on a resonant spin-charge motion, which explains the extremely strong spin-charge coupling, relevant energy scales, disappearence of pairing in the overdoped region, and the contrasting spin-sensitivities of nodal and antinodal charges in HTSC systems. Comparing collective versus single-particle excitations, pair formation versus condensation, and local versus long-range phase coherence, we argue that many fundamental features of HTSC systems, including the region of the Nernst effect, can be understood in terms of condensation and fluctuation phenomena of bosonic correlations formed above $T_{c}$.

10 pages, 12 figures. Yamazaki Prize Lecture presented at the International Conference on Muon Spin Rotation, MuSR2005, Oxford, UK, August, 2005. Physica B, in press. Contact: tomo@lorentz.phys.columbia.edu