Pseudogap and symmetry of superconducting order parameter in cuprates

The phase diagram, nature of the normal state pseudogap, type of the Fermi surface, and behavior of the superconducting gap in various cuprates are discussed in terms of a correlated state with valence bonds. The variational correlated state, which is a band analogue of the Anderson (RVB) states, is constructed using local unitary transformations. Formation of valence bonds causes attraction between holes in the d-channel and corresponding superconductivity compatible with antiferromagnetic spin order. Our calculations indicate that there is a fairly wide range of doping with antiferromagnetic order in isolated CuO2 planes. The shape of the Fermi surface and phase transition curve are sensitive to the value and sign of the hopping interaction t' between diagonal neighboring sites. In underdoped samples, the dielectrization of various sections of the Fermi boundary, depending on the sign of t', gives rise to a pseudogap detected in photoemission spectra for various quasimomentum directions. In particular, in bismuth- and yttrium-based ceramics (t'>0), the transition from the normal state of overdoped samples to the pseudogap state of underdoped samples corresponds to the onset of dielectrization on the Brillouin zone boundary near k = (0, pi) and transition from "large'' to "small'' Fermi surfaces. The hypothesis about s-wave superconductivity of La- and Nd-based ceramics has been revised: a situation is predicted when, notwithstanding the d-wave symmetry of the superconducting order parameter, the excitation energy on the Fermi surface does not vanish at all points of the phase space owing to the dielectrization of the Fermi boundary at k(x) = +/- k(y). The model with orthorhombic distortions and two peaks on the curve of T-c versus doping is discussed in connection with experimental data for the yttrium-based ceramic. (C) 1999 American Institute of Physics. [S1063-7761(99)01902-2].