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Anisotropic electron damping and energy gap in Bi2Sr2CaCu2O8+δ

Jiemin Li1,*, Yanhong Gu1, Takemi Yamada2, Zebin Wu3, Genda Gu3, Tonica Valla3,4, Ilya Drozdov3, Ivan Božović3, Mark P. M. Dean3 et al.

Takami Tohyama5,†, Jonathan Pelliciari1,‡, and Valentina Bisogni1,§

  • *Contact author: jli1@bnl.gov
  • †Contact author: tohyama@rs.tus.ac.jp
  • ‡Contact author: pelliciari@bnl.gov
  • §Contact author: bisogni@bnl.gov
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Phys. Rev. Research 7, 023319 – Published 27 June, 2025

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/k32g-pknp

Abstract

The many-body electron-electron interaction in cuprates causes broadening of the electronic bands in k space, leading to a deviation from the standard Fermi liquid. While a k-dependent anisotropic electronic scattering (k-DAES) has been assessed by photoemission, its fingerprint in Q space has been scarcely considered. Here, we explore the Q-dependent electron dynamics in optimally doped Bi2Sr2CaCu2O8+δ through the evolution of low-energy charge excitations as measured by resonant inelastic x-ray scattering (RIXS). In the normal state, the RIXS spectra display a continuum of excitations down to 0 meV, while the superconducting state features a spectral weight suppression below 80 meV without any enhancement at higher energies. To interpret the energy and Q evolution of our data, we introduce a phenomenological expression of the charge susceptibility by including the k-DAES. We show that only the charge susceptibility with k-DAES captures the RIXS data, highlighting the importance of k-DAES when describing the Q dependence of charge excitations from 0 to a few eV scale. Furthermore, we also find that the inclusion of k-DAES is essential when quantitative parameters such as the electronic energy gap are extracted from RIXS data.

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Phys. Rev. Research 7, 023319– Published 27 June, 2025
  • Received 24 July 2024
  • Revised 20 March 2025
  • Accepted 20 May 2025
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