The pseudogap is a partial gap in the electronic density of states that opens in the normal (non-superconducting) state of cuprate superconductors and whose origin is a long-standing puzzle. Its connection to the Mott insulator phase at low doping (hole concentration, p) remains ambiguous and its relation to the charge order that reconstructs the Fermi surface at intermediate doping is still unclear. Here we use measurements of the Hall coefficient in magnetic fields up to 88 tesla to show that Fermi-surface reconstruction by charge order in the cuprate YBa2Cu3Oy ends sharply at a critical doping p = 0.16 that is distinctly lower than the pseudogap critical point p* = 0.19 (ref. 11). This shows that the pseudogap and charge order are separate phenomena. We find that the change in carrier density n from n = 1 + p in the conventional metal at high doping (ref. 12) to n = p at low doping (ref. 13) starts at the pseudogap critical point. This shows that the pseudogap and the antiferromagnetic Mott insulator are linked.

In the quest to increase the critical temperature T c of cuprate superconductors, it is essential to identify the factors that limit the strength of superconductivity. The upper critical field H c2 is a fundamental measure of that strength, yet there is no agreement on its magnitude and doping dependence in cuprate superconductors. Here we show that the thermal conductivity can be used to directly detect H c2 in the cuprates YBa 2 Cu 3 O y , YBa 2 Cu 4 O 8 and Tl 2 Ba 2 CuO 6 þ d , allowing us to map out H c2 across the doping phase diagram. It exhibits two peaks, each located at a critical point where the Fermi surface of YBa 2 Cu 3 O y is known to undergo a transformation. Below the higher critical point, the condensation energy, obtained directly from H c2 , suffers a sudden 20-fold collapse. This reveals that phase competitionassociated with Fermi-surface reconstruction and charge-density-wave order-is a key limiting factor in the superconductivity of cuprates.

The nature of the pseudogap phase of cuprates remains a major puzzle. Although there are indications that this phase breaks various symmetries, there is no consensus on its fundamental nature 1 . Although Fermi-surface 2 , transport 3 and thermodynamic 4 signatures of the pseudogap phase are reminiscent of a transition into a phase with antiferromagnetic order 5,6 , there is no evidence for an associated long-range magnetic order. Here we report measurements of the thermal Hall conductivity κ xy in the normal state of four different cuprates (La 1.6-x Nd 0.4 Sr x CuO 4 , La 1.8-x Eu 0.2 Sr x CuO 4 , La 2-x Sr x CuO 4 , and Bi 2 Sr 2-x La x CuO 6+δ ) and show that a large negative κ xy signal is a property of the pseudogap phase, appearing with the onset of that phase at the critical doping p*. Since it is not due to charge carriersas it persists when the material becomes an insulator, at low doping -or magnons -as it exists in the absence of magnetic order -or phonons -since skew scattering

There is strong experimental evidence that the superconductor Sr2RuO4 has a chiral p-wave order parameter. This symmetry does not require that the associated gap has nodes, yet specific heat, ultrasound and thermal conductivity measurements indicate the presence of nodes in the superconducting gap structure of Sr2RuO4. Theoretical scenarios have been proposed to account for the existence of deep minima or accidental nodes (minima tuned to zero or below by material parameters) within a p-wave state. Other scenarios propose chiral d-wave and f -wave states, with horizontal and vertical line nodes, respectively. To elucidate the nodal structure of the gap, it is essential to know whether the lines of nodes (or minima) are vertical (parallel to the tetragonal c axis) or horizontal (perpendicular to the c axis). Here, we report thermal conductivity measurements on single crystals of Sr2RuO4 down to 50 mK for currents parallel and perpendicular to the c axis. We find that there is substantial quasiparticle transport in the T = 0 limit for both current directions. A magnetic field H immediately excites quasiparticles with velocities both in the basal plane and in the c direction. Our data down to Tc/30 and down to Hc2/100 show no evidence that the nodes are in fact deep minima. Relative to the normal state, the thermal conductivity of the superconducting state is found to be very similar for the two current directions, from H = 0 to H = Hc2. These findings show that the gap structure of Sr2RuO4 consists of vertical line nodes. This rules out a chiral d-wave state. Given that the c-axis dispersion (warping) of the Fermi surface in Sr2RuO4 varies strongly from surface to surface, the small a − c anisotropy suggests that the line nodes are present on all three sheets of the Fermi surface. If imposed by symmetry, vertical line nodes would be inconsistent with a p-wave order parameter for Sr2RuO4. To reconcile the gap structure revealed by our data with a p-wave state, a mechanism must be found that produces accidental line nodes in Sr2RuO4.

Charge-density-wave order has been observed in cuprate superconductors whose crystal structure breaks the square symmetry of the CuO 2 planes, such as orthorhombic YBa 2 Cu 3 O y (YBCO), but not so far in cuprates that preserve that symmetry, such as tetragonal HgBa 2 CuO 4þ (Hg1201). We have measured the Hall (R H ), Seebeck (S), and Nernst () coefficients of underdoped Hg1201 in magnetic fields large enough to suppress superconductivity. The high-field R H ðTÞ and SðTÞ are found to drop with decreasing temperature and become negative, as also observed in YBCO at comparable doping. In YBCO, the negative R H and S are signatures of a small electron pocket caused by Fermi-surface reconstruction, attributed to charge-density-wave modulations observed in the same range of doping and temperature. We deduce that a similar Fermi-surface reconstruction takes place in Hg1201, evidence that density-wave order exists in this material. A striking similarity is also found in the normal-state Nernst coefficient ðTÞ, further supporting this interpretation. Given the model nature of Hg1201, Fermi-surface reconstruction appears to be common to all hole-doped cuprates, suggesting that density-wave order is a fundamental property of these materials. There is a growing body of evidence that competing ordered states shape the phase diagram of the cuprates, and the identification of those states is currently a central challenge of high-temperature superconductivity. In the La 2 CuO 4 -based cuprates, whose maximal T c does not exceed 40 K, the existence of unidirectional densitywave order involving spin and charge modulations, known as stripe order [1,2] [9,10], a material with a maximal T c of 93 K, shows that its Fermi surface also undergoes a reconstruction [11,12]. Comparative measurements of the Seebeck coefficient in YBCO and Eu-LSCO reveal a detailed similarity [7,8], suggesting that Fermi-surface reconstruction (FSR) in YBCO is caused by some form of stripe order.Charge-density-wave modulations were recently detected in YBCO, via high-field nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) [13] and x-ray-scattering [14][15][16][17][18] measurements, in the range of temperature and doping where FSR occurs [8,19]. Although the detailed structure of these modulations remains to be clarified, there is little doubt that they are responsible for the FSR in YBCO.The fundamental question, then, is whether such charge modulations are a generic property of the cuprates. Because both the low-temperature tetragonal structure of Eu-LSCO and the orthorhombic structure of YBCO distort the square CuO 2 planes and impose a preferred direction, charge modulations are perhaps triggered or stabilized by these particular forms of unidirectional distortion. To answer that question, we need to examine a cuprate material with square CuO 2 planes. For that purpose, the model material is HgBa 2 CuO 4þ (Hg1201), a tetragonal cuprate with the highest maximal T c of all single-layer cuprates (97 K) [20,21], in which no charge or spin modulations have yet been reported. ...