The anomalous electronic structure of electron-doped cuprate superconductors by considering the next higher harmonics of the superconducting gap

Abstract

Based on the self-consistent mean field theory by considering the next higher harmonics of the superconducting (SC) gap, we discuss the energy and momentum dependence of the electron spectrum in electron-doped cuprate superconductors. By calculation of the electron spectral function, it is shown that the weight of the electron spectrum at the Fermi energy is strongly redistributed by the next higher harmonics of the SC gap in electron-doped cuprate superconductors, especially for the antinodal region. At the antinodal region, the weight of the electron spectrum at the Fermi surface increases with the increase of next higher harmonics term, reaches the maximum at a critical strength, then decreases when the next higher harmonics is larger. Our theoretical results show that the variation of the SC gap with the next higher harmonics can explain the anomalous behavior of the electron spectrum and different angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy experimental results of different samples of electron-doped cuprate superconductors. Moreover, the magnitude of the SC gap can be suppressed by the next higher harmonics, which may be one of the reasons for the smaller SC gap in electron-doped cuprate superconductors. Obvious topological change happens in the SC gap at a critical strength of the next higher harmonics.