Comment on "High Field Studies of Superconducting Fluctuations in High-Tc Cuprates. Evidence for a Small Gap distinct from the Large Pseudogap"

TL;DR

This paper argues that the in-plane paraconductivity in cuprates can be explained by conventional Gaussian-Ginzburg-Landau theory, challenging claims of doping independence and supporting the idea of fluctuating superconducting pairs above Tc.

Contribution

It demonstrates that the experimental data on cuprate paraconductivity align with a extended Gaussian-Ginzburg-Landau model, countering previous claims of doping independence.

Findings

Paraconductivity data fit Gaussian-Ginzburg-Landau model with energy cutoff

Contradicts previous claims of doping independence in paraconductivity

Supports the view of fluctuating pairs as a conventional phenomenon

Abstract

By using high magnetic field data to estimate the background conductivity, Rullier-Albenque and coworkers have recently published [Phys.Rev.B 84, 014522 (2011)] experimental evidence that the in-plane paraconductivity in cuprates is almost independent of doping. In this Comment we also show that, in contrast with their claims, these useful data may be explained at a quantitative level in terms of the Gaussian-Ginzburg-Landau approach for layered superconductors, extended by Carballeira and coworkers to high reduced-temperatures by introducing a total-energy cutoff [Phys.Rev.B 63, 144515 (2001)]. When combined, these two conclusions further suggest that the paraconductivity in cuprates is conventional, i.e., associated with fluctuating superconducting pairs above the mean-field critical temperature.