Manifestation of the magnetic resonance mode in the nodal quasiparticle lifetime of the superconducting cuprates

Phys Rev Lett. 2004 Jun 25;92(25 Pt 1):257006. doi: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.92.257006. Epub 2004 Jun 25.

Abstract

Studying the nodal quasiparticles in superconducting cuprates by photoemission with highly improved momentum resolution, we show that a new "kink" feature in the scattering rate is a key to uncover the nature of electron correlations in these compounds. Our data provide evidence that the main doping independent contribution to the scattering can be well understood in terms of the conventional Fermi liquid model, while the additional doping dependent contribution has a magnetic origin. This sheds doubt on applicability of a phonon-mediated pairing mechanism to high-temperature superconductors.