Imaging nanoscale Fermi-surface variations in an inhomogeneous superconductor
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Author(s)
Wise, W. D.
Chatterjee, Kamalesh
Boyer, Michael C.
Kondo, Takeshi
Takeuchi, T.
Ikuta, H.
Xu, Zhijun
Wen, Jinsheng
Gu, G. D.
Hudson, Eric
Date Issued
January 2009
Journal
Nature Physics
Publisher
Nature Publishing Group
Citation
Wise, W. D. et al. “Imaging nanoscale Fermi-surface variations in an inhomogeneous superconductor.” Nat Phys 5.3 (2009): 213-216. (C)2009 Nature Publishing Group.
Version
Author's final manuscript
Abstract
Particle–wave duality suggests we think of electrons as waves stretched across a sample, with wavevector k proportional to their momentum. Their arrangement in 'k-space', and in particular the shape of the Fermi surface, where the highest-energy electrons of the system reside, determine many material properties. Here we use a novel extension of Fourier-transform scanning tunnelling microscopy to probe the Fermi surface of the strongly inhomogeneous Bi-based cuprate superconductors. Surprisingly, we find that, rather than being globally defined, the Fermi surface changes on nanometre length scales. Just as shifting tide lines expose variations of water height, changing Fermi surfaces indicate strong local doping variations. This discovery, unprecedented in any material, paves the way for an understanding of other inhomogeneous characteristics of the cuprates, such as the pseudogap magnitude, and highlights a new approach to the study of nanoscale inhomogeneity in general.
MIT Department
Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Physics
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Article is made available in accordance with the publisher's policy and may be subject to US copyright law. Please refer to the publisher's site for terms of use.
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DOI of Published Version
http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/nphys1197
