Tunneling into the normal state of Pr2-xCexCuO4

Phys Rev Lett. 2005 May 13;94(18):187003. doi: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.94.187003. Epub 2005 May 12.

Abstract

The temperature dependence of the tunneling conductance was measured for various doping levels of Pr(2-x)CexCuO4 using planar junctions. A normal state gap is seen at all doping levels studied, x=0.11 to x=0.19. We find it to vanish above a certain temperature T*. T* is greater than T(c) for the underdoped region and it follows T(c) on the overdoped side. This behavior suggests finite pairing amplitude above T(c) on the underdoped side.