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Electronic Inhomogeneity and Breakdown of the Universal Thermal Conductivity in Cuprate Superconductors

X. F. Sun, S. Ono, Yasushi Abe, Seiki Komiya, Kouji Segawa, Yoichi Ando

cond-mat.supr-conarXiv:cond-mat/0511452

Abstract

We report systematic, high-precision measurements of the low-T (down to 70 mK) thermal conductivity κof YBa2Cu3Oy, La2-xSrxCuO4 and Bi2Sr2CaCu2O8+δ. Careful examinations of the Zn- and hole-doping dependences of the residual thermal conductivity κ0/T, as well as the in-plane anisotropy of κ0/T in Bi2Sr2CaCu2O8+δ, indicate a breakdown of the universal thermal conductivity, a notable theoretical prediction for d-wave superconductors. Our results point to an important role of electronic inhomogeneities, that are not considered in the standard perturbation theory for thermal conductivity, in the under- to optimally-doped regime.

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