Detection of a Cooper-Pair Density Wave in Bi$_{2}$Sr$_{2}$CaCu$_{2}$O$_{8+x}$

TL;DR

This study provides direct imaging evidence of a Cooper-pair density wave in Bi$_{2}$Sr$_{2}$CaCu$_{2}$O$_{8+x}$ using nanometer-resolution tunneling microscopy, revealing spatial modulations consistent with theoretical predictions for the pseudogap phase.

Contribution

First direct visualization of a Cooper-pair density wave in a cuprate superconductor using advanced scanning tunneling microscopy techniques.

Findings

Detected a Cooper-pair density modulation at specific wavevectors.

The modulation amplitude is approximately 5% of the homogeneous condensate.

The form factor of the modulation is primarily s/s'-symmetry.

Abstract

The quantum condensate of Cooper-pairs forming a superconductor was originally conceived to be translationally invariant. In theory, however, pairs can exist with finite momentum $Q$ and thereby generate states with spatially modulating Cooper-pair density. While never observed directly in any superconductor, such a state has been created in ultra-cold $^{6}$Li gas. It is now widely hypothesized that the cuprate pseudogap phase contains such a 'pair density wave' (PDW) state. Here we use nanometer resolution scanned Josephson tunneling microscopy (SJTM) to image Cooper-pair tunneling from a $d$-wave superconducting STM tip to the condensate of Bi$_{2}$Sr$_{2}$CaCu$_{2}$O$_{8+x}$. Condensate visualization capabilities are demonstrated directly using the Cooper-pair density variations surrounding Zn impurity atoms and at the Bi$_{2}$Sr$_{2}$CaCu$_{2}$O$_{8+x}$ crystal-supermodulation. Then, by using Fourier analysis of SJTM images, we discover the direct signature of a Cooper-pair density modulation at wavevectors $Q_{p} \approx (0.25,0)2\pi / a_{0}$;$(0,0.25)2\pi / a_{0}$ in Bi$_{2}$Sr$_{2}$CaCu$_{2}$O$_{8+x}$. The amplitude of these modulations is ~5% of the homogenous condensate density and their form factor exhibits primarily $s$/$s'$-symmetry. This phenomenology is expected within Ginzburg-Landau theory when a charge density wave with $d$-symmetry form factor and wave vector $Q_{c}=Q_{p}$ coexists with a homogeneous $d$-symmetry superconductor ; it is also encompassed by several contemporary microscopic theories for the pseudogap phase.