Coexistence of Fermi arcs and Fermi pockets in a high Tc copper oxide superconductor

TL;DR

This study provides direct ARPES evidence of Fermi pockets coexisting with Fermi arcs in a high-Tc cuprate superconductor, challenging existing theories of the pseudogap state and revealing complex Fermi surface behavior.

Contribution

First direct observation of Fermi pockets coexisting with Fermi arcs in a cuprate superconductor, highlighting a new aspect of the pseudogap state.

Findings

Fermi pockets are observed in underdoped La-Bi2201.

Fermi pockets coexist with Fermi arcs in the pseudogap state.

Fermi pockets are hole-like and doping-dependent.

Abstract

In the pseudogap state of the high-Tc copper-oxide (cuprate) superconductors, angle-resolved photoemission (ARPES) measurements have seen an Fermi arc, i.e., an open-ended gapless section in the large Fermi surface, rather than a closed loop expected of an ordinary metal. This is all the more puzzling because Fermi pockets (small closed Fermi surface features) have been suggested from recent quantum oscillation measurements. The Fermi arcs have worried the high-Tc community for many years because they cannot be understood in terms of existing theories. Theorists came up with a way out in the form of conventional Fermi surface pockets associated with competing order, with a back side that is for detailed reasons invisible by photoemission. Here we report ARPES measurements of La-Bi2201 that give direct evidence of the Fermi pocket. The charge carriers in the pocket are holes and the pockets show an unusual dependence upon doping, namely, they exist in underdoped but not overdoped samples. A big surprise is that these Fermi pockets appear to coexist with the Fermi arcs. This coexistence has not been expected theoretically and the understanding of the mysterious pseudogap state in the high-Tc cuprate superconductors will rely critically on understanding such a new finding.