2009/05/14 by T. Pereg-Barnea, H. Weber, Heiko B. Weber +4
Physics and Astronomy · #Magnetic properties of thin films #Physics of Superconductivity and Magnetism #Quantum and electron transport phenomena #cond-mat.supr-con
paper · pdf · doi:10.1038/nphys1431
published as Nature Physics 6, 44-49 (2009) · 8 pages, 5 figures
arxiv created 2009/05/14 · openalex publication_date 2009/11/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/28
When a metal is subjected to strong magnetic field B nearly all measurable quantities exhibit oscillations periodic in 1/B. Such quantum oscillations represent a canonical probe of the defining aspect of a metal, its Fermi surface (FS). In this study we establish a new mechanism for quantum oscillations which requires only finite segments of a FS to exist. Oscillations periodic in 1/B occur if the FS segments are terminated by a pairing gap. Our results reconcile the recent breakthrough experiments showing quantum oscillations in a cuprate superconductor YBCO, with a well-established result of many angle resolved photoemission (ARPES) studies which consistently indicate "Fermi arcs" -- truncated segments of a Fermi surface -- in the normal state of the cuprates.