Search for quantum critical behavior in the specific heat of HTS cuprates

ORAL

Abstract

Much evidence has been accumulated suggesting the presence of a quantum critical point in the lightly overdoped regime for high-$T_{c}$ superconductors, around $p$=0.19 holes per Cu. It is however not decisive. In the neighborhood of a quantum critical point the normal-state electronic specific heat should contain a $T$ln($T)$ term. While this would be concealed by the onset of superconductivity it is in principle recoverable using the entropy balance that exists in a second-order phase transition. This paper reviews the data for Y$_{0.8}$Ca$_{0.2}$Ba$_{2}$Cu$_{3}$O$_{7-d}$ and Bi$_{2}$Sr$_{2}$CaCu$_{2}$O$_{8+d}$ and places limits on the magnitude and doping evolution of a $T$ln($T)$ term in the specific heat across the phase diagram.

Authors

  • Jeffery Tallon

    MacDiarmid Institute, Industrial Research Ltd

  • Felix Barber

    Industrial Research Ltd

  • John Cooper

    Cavendish Lab., Cambridge University, University of Cambridge, Cavendish Laboratory, University of Cambridge, CB3 0HE, U.K

  • John Loram

    Cavendish Lab., Cambridge University