Doping-dependence of nodal quasiparticle properties in high-$T_{\rm c}$ cuprates studied by laser-excited angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy

Abstract

We investigate the doping dependent low energy, low temperature ($T$ = 5 K) properties of nodal quasiparticles in the d-wave superconductor Bi$_{2.1}$Sr$_{1.9}$CaCu$_2$O$_{8+\delta}$ (Bi2212). By utilizing ultrahigh resolution laser-excited angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy, we obtain precise band dispersions near $E_{F}$, mean free paths and scattering rates ($\Gamma$) of quasiparticles. For optimally and overdoped, we obtain very sharp quasiparticle peaks of 8 meV and 6 meV full-width at half-maximum, respectively, in accord with terahertz conductivity. For all doping levels, we find the energy-dependence of $\Gamma \sim |\omega |$, while $\Gamma$($\omega =0$) shows a monotonic increase from overdoping to underdoping. The doping dependence suggests the role of electronic inhomogeneity on the nodal quasiparticle scattering at low temperature (5 K $\lsim 0.07T_{\rm c}$), pronounced in the underdoped region.