In cuprate superconductors with high critical transition temperature (Tc), light hole-doping to the parent compound, which is an antiferromagnetic Mott insulator, has been predicted to lead to the formation of small Fermi pockets. These pockets, however, have not been observed. Here, we investigate the electronic structure of the five-layered Ba2Ca4Cu5O10(F,O)2, which has inner copper oxide (CuO2) planes with extremely low disorder, and find small Fermi pockets centered at (π/2, π/2) of the Brillouin zone by angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy and quantum oscillation measurements. The d-wave superconducting gap opens along the pocket, revealing the coexistence between superconductivity and antiferromagnetic ordering in the same CuO2 sheet. These data further indicate that superconductivity can occur without contribution from the antinodal region around (π, 0), which is shared by other competing excitations.

Secondary ion mass spectrometry (SIMS) and work function measurements were made to examine the surface composition difference between Bi2Sr2CaCu2O8 surfaces that were cleaved at low temperature and at room temperature. SIMS measurements of the surfaces cleaved at room temperature indicated that the intensity of secondary ions Ca+, Sr+, and Cu+ increases and the intensity of O– decreases with time. More‐ over, the work function increased with time. On the other hand, SIMS of the surfaces cleaved at low temperature indicated comparatively much smaller changes in intensity of secondary ion spectra and work function. These findings are discussed in terms of the decrease in surface oxygen content, and the effectiveness of the cleavage at low temperature is clarified. (© 2005 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)

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The currently established electronic phase diagram of cuprates is based on a study of single- and double-layered compounds. These CuO2 planes, however, are directly contacted with dopant layers, thus inevitably disordered with an inhomogeneous electronic state. Here, we solve this issue by investigating a 6-layered Ba2Ca5Cu6O12(F,O)2 with inner CuO2 layers, which are clean with the extremely low disorder, by angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy (ARPES) and quantum oscillation measurements. We find a tiny Fermi pocket with a doping level less than 1% to exhibit well-defined quasiparticle peaks which surprisingly lack the polaronic feature. This provides the first evidence that the slightest amount of carriers is enough to turn a Mott insulating state into a metallic state with long-lived quasiparticles. By tuning hole carriers, we also find an unexpected phase transition from the superconducting to metallic states at 4%. Our results are distinct from the nodal liquid state with polaronic features proposed as an anomaly of the heavily underdoped cuprates.