Sharp k-space features in the order parameter within the interlayer pair-tunneling mechanism of high-T_c superconductivity

TL;DR

This paper investigates the k-space structure of the superconducting gap in bilayer cuprates, revealing how interlayer pair-tunneling induces complex features and affects observable properties like the specific heat jump.

Contribution

It introduces a detailed analysis of how interlayer pair-tunneling influences the k-space gap structure and observable phenomena in high-T_c superconductors.

Findings

Pronounced maxima along the Fermi line due to interlayer pair-tunneling

Evolution of gap structure with temperature and band filling

Nonuniversal specific heat jump at T_c

Abstract

We study the k-dependence of the gap function of a bilayer superconductor, using standard mean-field techniques applied to a 2D extended Hubbard model, in the presence of coherent interlayer pair-tunneling and quenched coherent single-particle tunneling. The intralayer pairing potential thus defined is expandable in a finite number of basis functions for the irreducible representations of the point-group of the perfectly square lattice, C_{4v}. This gives rise to a competition between s- and d-wave symmetry, as the chemical potential is increased from the bottom to the top of a realistic band for most cuprates. It allows for mixed-symmetry paired state at temperatures below T_c, but never at T_c on a square lattice. Inclusion of the interlayer pair-tunneling into the effective pairing potential leads to highly non-trivial k-space structures, such as pronounced maxima along the Fermi line not seen in the absence of interlayer pair-tunneling. We show how such a gap structure evolves with temperature and with band filling, and how it affects various observables. In particular, a nonuniversal value of the normalized jump in the specific heat at T_c will be evidenced, at variance with the conventional universal BCS result.