Cuprate high-T c superconductors exhibit enigmatic behavior in the nonsuperconducting state. For carrier concentrations near "optimal doping" (with respect to the highest T c s) the transport and spectroscopic properties are unlike those of a Landau-Fermi liquid. On the Mott-insulating side of the optimal carrier concentration, which corresponds to underdoping, a pseudogap removes quasiparticle spectral weight from parts of the Fermi surface and causes a breakup of the Fermi surface into disconnected nodal and antinodal sectors. Here, we show that the near-nodal excitations of underdoped cuprates obey Fermi liquid behavior. The lifetime τ(ω, T) of a quasi-particle depends on its energy ω as well as on the temperature T. For a Fermi liquid, 1/τ(ω, T) is expected to collapse on a universal function proportional to (h ω) 2 + (pπk B T) 2 . Magnetotransport experiments, which probe the properties in the limit ω = 0, have provided indications for the presence of a T 2 dependence of the dc (ω = 0) resistivity of different cuprate materials. However, Fermi liquid behavior is very much about the energy dependence of the lifetime, and this can only be addressed by spectroscopic techniques. Our optical experiments confirm the aforementioned universal ω-and T dependence of 1/τ(ω, T), with p ∼ 1.5. Our data thus provide a piece of evidence in favor of a Fermi liquid-like scenario of the pseudogap phase of the cuprates.optical spectroscopy | superconductivity | mass renormalization | self energy T he compound HgBa 2 CuO 4+δ (Hg1201) is the single-layer cuprate that exhibits the highest T c (97 K). We therefore measured the optical conductivity of strongly underdoped single crystals of Hg1201 ðT c = 67 KÞ. Here we are interested in the optical conductivity of the CuO 2 layers. We therefore express the optical conductivity as a 2D sheet conductance GðωÞ = d c σðωÞ, where d c is the interlayer spacing. The real part of the sheet conductance normalized by the conduction quantum G 0 = 2e 2 =h is shown in Fig. 1. As seen in the figure, a gap-like suppression below 140 meV is clearly observable for temperatures below T c and remains visible in the normal state up to ∼250 K. This is a clear optical signature of the pseudogap. We also observe the zero-energy mode due to the free charge carrier response, which progressively narrows upon lowering the temperature. In materials where the charge carrier relaxation is dominated by impurity scattering, the width of this "Drude" peak corresponds to the relaxation rate of the charge carriers. Relaxation processes arising from interactions have the effect of replacing the constant (frequency-independent) relaxation rate with a frequencydependent one. The general expression for the optical conductivity of interacting electrons is then Gðω; TÞ = iπK Zω + Mðω; TÞ G 0 :[1]The spectral weight K corresponds to minus the kinetic energy if the frequency integration of the experimental data is restricted to intraband transitions. The effect of electron-electron interactions and coupling to collective mo...
Wound healing is affected by bacterial infection and related inflammation, cell proliferation and differentiation, and tissue remodeling. Current antibiotics therapy cannot promote wound healing and kill bacteria at the same time. Herein, hybrid nanosheets of g-C 3 N 4 -Zn 2+ @graphene oxide (SCN-Zn 2+ @GO) are prepared by combining Zn 2+ doped sheet-like g-C 3 N 4 with graphene oxide via electrostatic bonding and π-π stacking interactions to assist wound healing and kill bacteria simultaneously by short-time exposure to 660 and 808 nm light. The gene expressions of matrix metalloproteinase-2, type I collagen, type III collagen, and interleukin β in fibroblasts are regulated by GO and released Zn 2+ , which can accelerate wound healing. Co-irradiation produces an antibacterial ratio over 99.1% within a short time because of the synergistic effects of both photodynamic antibacterial and photothermal antibacterial treatments. The hyperthermia produced by 808 nm light illumination can weaken the bacterial activity. And these bacteria can be easily killed by membrane destruction, protein denaturation, and disruption of bacterial metabolic pathways due to reactive oxygen species produced under 660 nm light irradiation. This strategy of Zn 2+ and GO modification can increase the antibacterial efficacy of SCN and accelerate wound healing at the same time, which makes this SCN-Zn 2+ @GO be very promising in bacteria-infected wound healing therapy.
Transition metal dichalcogenide MoTe2 is an important candidate for realizing the newly predicted type-II Weyl fermions, for which the breaking of the inversion symmetry is a prerequisite. Here we present direct spectroscopic evidence for the inversion symmetry breaking in the low-temperature phase of MoTe2 by systematic Raman experiments and first-principles calculations. We identify five lattice vibrational modes that are Raman-active only in the low-temperature noncentrosymmetric structure. A hysteresis is also observed in the peak intensity of inversion symmetry-activated Raman modes, confirming a temperature-induced structural phase transition with a concomitant change in the inversion symmetry. Our results provide definitive evidence for the low-temperature noncentrosymmetric Td phase from vibrational spectroscopy, and suggest MoTe2 as an ideal candidate for investigating the temperature-induced topological phase transition.
We describe the development of click-expansion microscopy (Click-ExM), which integrates click-labeling into ExM to enable a"one-stop-shop" method for nanoscale imaging of various types of biomolecules.Using 18 clickable labels for click-ExM imaging of DNA, RNA, proteins, lipids, glycans and small molecules, we demonstrate its universality, compatibility with signal-ampli cation techniques, and broad applications in cellular and tissue imaging. The click-labeling and ExM steps could be nished within two days. This step-by-step protocol is related to the publication "Click-ExM enables expansion microscopy for all biomolecules" in Nature Methods.
In most existing theories for iron-based superconductors, spin-orbit coupling (SOC) has been assumed to be insignificant. Here, we use spin-polarized inelastic neutron scattering to show that collective low-energy spin excitations in the orthorhombic (or "nematic") phase of FeSe possess nearly no in-plane component. Such spin-space anisotropy is present over an energy range greater than the superconducting gap 2Δ sc and gets fully inherited in the superconducting state, resulting in a c-axis polarized "spin resonance" without any noticeable isotropic spectral-weight rearrangement related to the superconductivity, which is distinct from observations in the superconducting iron pnictides. The contrast between the strong suppression of long-range magnetic order in FeSe and the persisting large spin-space anisotropy, which cannot be explained microscopically by introducing single-ion anisotropy into local-moment spin models, demonstrates the importance of SOC in an itinerant-electron description of the low-energy spin excitations. Our result helps to elucidate the nearby magnetic instabilities and the debated interplay between spin and orbital degrees of freedom in FeSe. The prominent role of SOC also implies a possible unusual nature of the superconducting state.
Charge-density-wave (CDW) order has long been interpreted as arising from a Fermi-surface instability in the parent metallic phase. While phonon-electron coupling has been suggested to influence the formation of CDW order in quasi-two-dimensional (quasi-2D) systems, the presumed dominant importance of Fermi-surface nesting remains largely unquestioned in quasi-1D systems.Here we show that phonon-electron coupling is also important for the CDW formation in a model quasi-1D system ZrTe 3 . Our joint experimental and computational study reveals that particular lattice vibrational patterns possess exceedingly strong coupling to the conduction electrons, and are directly linked to the lattice distortions associated with the CDW order. The dependence of the coupling matrix elements on electron momentum further dictates the opening of (partial) electronic gaps in the CDW phase. Since lattice distortions and electronic gaps are the defining signatures of CDW order, our result demonstrates that the conventional wisdom based on Fermisurface geometry needs to be substantially supplemented by phonon-electron coupling even in the simplest quasi-1D case. As prerequisites for the CDW formation, the highly anisotropic electronic structure and strong phonon-electron coupling in ZrTe 3 give rise to a distinct Raman scattering effect, namely, measured phonon linewidths depend on the direction of momentum transfer in the scattering process.
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