Electronic heat transport in the optimally doped superconductor YBa2Cu3O6.95: preservation of the Wiedemann-Franz law

TL;DR

This study measures heat and charge transport in optimally-doped YBa2Cu3O6.95, confirming the Wiedemann-Franz law holds with a Lorenz number twice the expected value, consistent with a Fermi-liquid with a pseudogap.

Contribution

First detailed transport measurements in YBa2Cu3O6.95 showing the Wiedemann-Franz law is preserved with an enhanced Lorenz number, supporting a Fermi-liquid pseudogap model.

Findings

Wiedemann-Franz law holds in YBa2Cu3O6.95

Lorenz number is about twice the Sommerfeld value

Electronic behavior consistent with a Fermi-liquid with a pseudogap

Abstract

Measurements of longitudinal and transverse transport coefficients were performed in the normal state of a high-quality single crystal of optimally-doped superconductor YBa2Cu3O6.95. We found the Hall-Lorenz number (Lxy) depends only weakly on temperature, thus no appreciable violation of the Wiedemann-Franz law has been observed. However, Lxy is about two times larger than the Sommerfeld's value of the Lorenz number. Our results can be interpreted consistently if we assume that the electronic system of YBa2Cu3O6.95 behaves like a Fermi-liquid with a pseudo-gap that opens at the Fermi level.