Visualizing the particle-hole dualism in high-temperature superconductors

Ivar Martin; Alexander V. Balatsky

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arXiv · cond-mat/0003142

Visualizing the particle-hole dualism in high-temperature superconductors

Ivar Martin·Alexander V. Balatsky

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Abstract

Recent Scanning Tunneling Microscope (STM) experiments offer a unique insight into the inner workings of the superconducting state of high-Tc superconductors. Deliberately placed inside the material impurities perturb the coherent state and produce additional excitations. Superconducting excitations - quasiparticles - are the quantum mechanical mixture of negatively charged electron (-e) and positively charged hole (+e). Depending on the applied voltage bias in STM one can sample the particle and hole content of a superconducting excitation. We argue that the complimentary cross-shaped patterns observed on the positive and negative biases are the manifestation of the particle-hole dualism of the quasiparticles.

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Ivar Martin, Alexander V. Balatsky. 2000-03-09. Visualizing the particle-hole dualism in high-temperature superconductors. https://arxiv.org/abs/cond-mat/0003142

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