Incoherent pair tunneling in the pseudogap phase of cuprates

TL;DR

This paper investigates how the pseudogap in underdoped cuprates suppresses incoherent pair tunneling in a superconductor-normal metal junction, using a model self-energy aligned with photoemission data.

Contribution

It introduces a model to describe the pseudogap's effect on pair tunneling, explaining temperature-dependent suppression observed in experiments.

Findings

Pseudogap causes additional suppression of pair tunneling current with temperature.

Model aligns with photoemission data and experimental observations.

Suggests directions for future experimental validation.

Abstract

Motivated by a recent experiment by Bergeal et al., we reconsider incoherent pair tunneling in a cuprate junction formed from an optimally doped superconducting lead and an underdoped normal metallic lead. We study the impact of the pseudogap on the pair tunneling by describing fermions in the underdoped lead with a model self-energy that has been developed to reproduce photoemission data. We find that the pseudogap causes an additional temperature dependent suppression of the pair contribution to the tunneling current. We discuss consistency with available experimental data and propose future experimental directions.