Abstract
We have investigated the temperature and doping variations of optical and transport properties in the electron-doped high- cuprate crystals In the optical spectra of underdoped crystals a notable pseudogap is observed at low temperatures. A Drude-like response evolves concomitantly with pseudogap formation. Both the magnitude and onset temperature of the pseudogap decrease with electron doping, while holding the relation that The is comparable to the magnitude of the pseudogap at around in the photoemission spectra reported by Armitage et al. [Phys. Rev. Lett. 88, 257001 (2002)], which indicates that the pseudogap appearing in the optical spectra is identical to that discerned by the photoemission spectroscopy. The scattering rate spectra of the crystals show a kink structure at around 0.07 eV, which can be ascribed not to the pseudogap but to the electron-phonon coupling. In accordance with the evolution of the Drude response, the in-plane resistivity begins to decrease rapidly at around in the underdoped region. The out-of-plane resistivity shows an even more distinct decrease below This is because the interplane charge transport is governed by electronic states at around where the quasiparticle spectral weight is accumulated in the case of the electron-doped system. This is contrary to the hole-doped case with the pseudogap around this point. The origin of the pseudogap has been ascribed to the antiferromagnetic spin correlation, which is consistent with the evolution of a two-magnon band in the Raman spectra below The pseudogap phenomenon in the electron-doped cuprate has been argued comparatively with that of the hole-doped cuprate.
- Received 2 May 2003
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevB.69.024504
©2004 American Physical Society