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Charge order, metallic behavior and superconductivity in La_{2-x}Ba_xCuO_4 with x=1/8

C. C. Homes·S. V. Dordevic·G. D. Gu·Q. Li·T. Valla·J. M. Tranquada
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Abstract

The ab-plane optical properties of a cleaved single crystal of La_{2-x}Ba_xCuO_4 for x=1/8 (T_c ~ 2.4 K) have been measured over a wide frequency and temperature range. The low-frequency conductivity is Drude-like and shows a metallic response with decreasing temperature. However, below ~ 60 K, corresponding to the onset of charge-stripe order, there is a rapid loss of spectral weight below about 40 meV. The gapping of single-particle excitations looks surprisingly similar to that observed in superconducting La_{2-x}Sr_{x}CuO_4, including the presence of a residual Drude peak with reduced weight; the main difference is that the lost spectral weight moves to high, rather than zero, frequency, reflecting the absence of a bulk superconducting condensate.

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C. C. Homes, S. V. Dordevic, G. D. Gu, Q. Li, T. Valla, J. M. Tranquada. 2006-03-28. Charge order, metallic behavior and superconductivity in La_{2-x}Ba_xCuO_4 with x=1/8. https://doi.org/10.1103/physrevlett.96.257002

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