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Abstract:
The metallic state of high-temperature copper-oxide superconductors,
characterized by unusual and distinct temperature dependences in the
transport properties(1-4), is markedly different from that of textbook
metals. Despite intense theoretical efforts(5-11), our limited
understanding is impaired by our inability to determine experimentally
the temperature and momentum dependence of the transport scattering
rate. Here, we use a powerful magnetotransport probe to show that the
resistivity and the Hall coefficient in highly doped Tl2Ba2CuO6+delta
originate from two distinct inelastic scattering channels. One channel
is due to conventional electron electron scattering; the other is highly
anisotropic, has the same symmetry as the superconducting gap and a
magnitude that grows approximately linearly with temperature. The
observed form and anisotropy place tight constraints on theories of the
metallic state. Moreover, in heavily doped non-superconducting
La2-xSrxCuO4, this anisotropic scattering term is absent(12), suggesting
an intimate connection between the origin of this scattering and
superconductivity itself.
