Visualization of spatial inhomogeneity in the superconducting gap using micro-ARPES

Yudai Miyai; Shigeyuki Ishida; Kenichi Ozawa; Yoshiyuki Yoshida; Hiroshi Eisaki; Kenya Shimada; Hideaki Iwasawa

doi:10.1080/14686996.2024.2379238

Visualization of spatial inhomogeneity in the superconducting gap using micro-ARPES

Sci Technol Adv Mater. 2024 Aug 5;25(1):2379238. doi: 10.1080/14686996.2024.2379238. eCollection 2024.

Authors

Yudai Miyai¹, Shigeyuki Ishida², Kenichi Ozawa^{3

4}, Yoshiyuki Yoshida², Hiroshi Eisaki², Kenya Shimada^{5

6

7}, Hideaki Iwasawa^{5

8

9}

Affiliations

¹ Graduate School of Advanced Science and Engineering, Hiroshima University, Higashi-Hiroshima, Japan.
² Research Institute for Advanced Electronics and Photonics, National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology, Ibaraki, Japan.
³ Institute of Materials Structure Science, High Energy Accelerator Research Organization (KEK), Tsukuba, Ibaraki, Japan.
⁴ Graduate Institute for Advanced Studies, SOKENDAI, Tsukuba, Ibaraki, Japan.
⁵ Research Institute for Synchrotron Radiation Science (HiSOR), Hiroshima University, Higashi-Hiroshima, Japan.
⁶ International Institute for Sustainability with Knotted Chiral Meta Matter (WPI-SKCM2), Hiroshima University, Higashi-Hiroshima, Japan.
⁷ Research Institute for Semiconductor Engineering (RISE), Hiroshima University, Higashi-Hiroshima, Japan.
⁸ Synchrotron Radiation Research Center, National Institutes for Quantum Science and Technology (QST), Sayo, Japan.
⁹ NanoTerasu Center, National Institutes for Quantum Science and Technology (QST), Sendai, Japan.

Abstract

Electronic inhomogeneity arises ubiquitously as a consequence of adjacent and/or competing multiple phases or orders in strongly correlated electron systems. Gap inhomogeneity in high- $T c$ cuprate superconductors has been widely observed using scanning tunneling microscopy/spectroscopy. However, it has yet to be evaluated by angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy (ARPES) due to the difficulty in achieving both high energy and spatial resolutions. Here, we employ high-resolution spatially-resolved ARPES with a micrometric beam (micro-ARPES) to reveal the spatial dependence of the antinodal electronic states in optimally-doped Bi $2$ Sr $2$ CaCu $2$ O $8 + δ$ . Detailed spectral lineshape analysis was extended to the spatial mapping dataset, enabling the identification of the spatial inhomogeneity of the superconducting gap and single-particle scattering rate at the micro-scale. Moreover, these physical parameters and their correlations were statistically evaluated. Our results suggest that high-resolution spatially-resolved ARPES holds promise for facilitating a data-driven approach to unraveling complexity and uncovering key parameters for the formulation of various physical properties of materials.

Keywords: Angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy (ARPES); gap inhomogeneity; high- T c cuprates; measurement informatics; micro-ARPES; spatially-resolved ARPES.

Plain language summary

This work pioneers high-resolution micro-ARPES for the first-time quantitative mapping and analysis of micro-scale superconducting gap inhomogeneity in high-T_c cuprate superconductors.

Grants and funding

This work was supported by JST, PRESTO Grant Number JPMJPR23J1, Japan, and Innovative Science and Technology Initiative for Security Grant Number JPJ004596, ATLA, Japan, and the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS) KAKENHI Grant Numbers 19K03749 and JP19H05823, as well as the JSPS Bilateral Program, Grant numbers 120209941 and 120239943.