Pairing and Phase Coherence in High Temperature Superconductors
Abstract
Mobile holes in an antiferromagnetic insulator form a slowly fluctuating array of quasi one-dimensional metallic stripes, which induce a spin gap or pseudogap in the intervening Mott-insulating regions. The mobile holes on an individual stripe acquire a spin gap via pair hopping between the stripe and its environment; i.e. via a magnetic analog of the usual superconducting proximity effect. This process is the analog of pairing in conventional superconductors. At non-vanishing stripe densities, Josephson coupling between stripes produces a dimensional crossover to a state with long-range superconducting phase coherence. In contrast to conventional superconductors, the superconducting state is characterised by a high density of (spin) pairs, but the phase stiffness, which is determined by the density and mobility of holes on the stripes, is very low.
Cite
@article{arxiv.cond-mat/9703211,
title = {Pairing and Phase Coherence in High Temperature Superconductors},
author = {V. J. Emery and S. A. Kivelson and O. Zachar},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:cond-mat/9703211},
year = {2009}
}
Comments
4 pages. Proceedings of MMS-High Temperature Superconductivity, V (1997) To be published in Physica C