TIME REVERSAL BREAKING SUPERCONDUCTING STATE IN THE PHASE DIAGRAM OF THE CUPRATES

Abstract

We review and extend a previous study1 on the symmetry of the superconducting state, stimulated by recent tunneling and Andreev reflection measurements giving robust evidences for the existence of a dx2-y2 + idxy order parameter in the overdoped regime of two different cuprates. Looking for a possible second-order phase transition from a standard dx2-y2 to a mixed and time reversal breaking state, we confirm the results of our previous analysis on La 2-x Sr x CuO 4. In the case of Y 1-y Ca y Ba 2 Cu 3 O 7-x as well, among all the allowed symmetries, the dx2 - y2 + idxy is the most favored one and the unconventional state is likely to occur in a small dome of the phase diagram located in the optimal-overdoped region and at very low temperatures.