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Electron-doped cuprates consistently exhibit strong antiferromagnetic correlations, leading to the prevalent belief that antiferromagnetic spin fluctuations mediate Cooper pairing in these unconventional superconductors. However, early investigations showed that although antiferromagnetic spin fluctuations create the largest pseudogap at hot spots in momentum space, the superconducting gap is also maximized at these locations. This presented a paradox for spin-fluctuation-mediated pairing: Cooper pairing is strongest at momenta where the normal-state low-energy spectral weight is most suppressed. Here we investigate this paradox and find evidence that a gossamer—meaning very faint—Fermi surface can provide an explanation for these observations. We study Nd2–xCexCuO4 using angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy and directly observe the Bogoliubov quasiparticles. First, we resolve the previously observed reconstructed main band and the states gapped by the antiferromagnetic pseudogap around the hot spots. Within the antiferromagnetic pseudogap, we also observe gossamer states with distinct dispersion, from which coherence peaks of Bogoliubov quasiparticles emerge below the superconducting critical temperature. Moreover, the direct observation of a Bogoliubov quasiparticle permits an accurate determination of the superconducting gap, yielding a maximum value an order of magnitude smaller than the pseudogap, establishing the distinct nature of these two gaps. We propose that orientation fluctuations in the antiferromagnetic order parameter are responsible for the gossamer states. 

Abstract In high-temperature ( T c ) cuprate superconductors, many exotic phenomena are rooted in the enigmatic pseudogap state, which has been interpreted as consisting of preformed Cooper pairs or competing orders or a combination thereof. Observation of pseudogap phenomenologically in electron-doped Sr 2 IrO 4 —the 5d electron counterpart of the cuprates, has spurred intense interest in the strontium iridates as a testbed for exploring the exotic physics of the cuprates. Here, we examine the pseudogap state of electron-doped Sr 2 IrO 4 by angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy (ARPES) and parallel theoretical modeling. Our analysis demonstrates that the pseudogap state of Sr 2 IrO 4 appears without breaking the particle–hole symmetry or inducing spectral broadening which are telltale signatures of competing orders in the cuprates. We find quasiparticle dispersion and its temperature dependence in the pseudogap state of Sr 2 IrO 4 to point to an electronic order with a zero scattering wave vector and limited correlation length. Particle–hole symmetric preformed Cooper pairs are discussed as a viable mechanism for such an electronic order. The potential roles of incommensurate density waves are also discussed. 

The proposed X-ray spatial light modulator (SLM) concept is based on the difference of X-ray scattering from amorphous and crystalline regions of phase change materials (PCMs) such as Ge₂Sb₂Te₅(GST). In our X-ray SLM design, the“on” and“off” states correspond to a patterned and homogeneous state of a GST thin film, respectively. The patterned state is obtained by exposing the homogeneous film to laser pulses. In this paper, we present patterning results in GST thin films characterized by microwave impedance microscopy and X-ray small-angle scattering at the Stanford Synchrotron Radiation Lightsource.

 

Integrating solid-state quantum emitters with photonic circuits is essential for realizing large-scale quantum photonic processors. Negatively charged tin-vacancy (SnV−) centers in diamond have emerged as promising candidates for quantum emitters because of their excellent optical and spin properties, including narrow-linewidth emission and long spin coherence times. SnV− centers need to be incorporated in optical waveguides for efficient onchip routing of the photons they generate. However, such integration has yet to be realized. In this Letter, we demonstrate the coupling of SnV− centers to a nanophotonic waveguide. We realize this device by leveraging our recently developed shallow ion implantation and growth method for the generation of high-quality SnV− centers and the advanced quasi-isotropic diamond fabrication technique. We confirm the compatibility and robustness of these techniques through successful coupling of narrow-linewidth SnV− centers (as narrow as 36 ± 2 MHz) to the diamond waveguide. Furthermore, we investigate the stability of waveguide-coupled SnV− centers under resonant excitation. Our results are an important step toward SnV−-based on-chip spin-photon interfaces, single-photon nonlinearity, and photon-mediated spin interactions.