Doping dependence of thermopower in cuprate superconductors

The doping dependence of the thermopower of cuprate superconductors in the normal-state is studied within the t-j model. It is shown that with a proper modification of the bare electron dispersion in the t-j model, the experimental results of the doping dependence of the normal-state thermopower are qualitatively reproduced. In particular, the theory shows that a pseudogap-generated split of the van Hove peak in the density of states appears in the underdoped and optimally doped regimes, however, this split is absent from the overdoped regime. Concomitantly, the strong asymmetry of the spectral conductivity near the electron Fermi surface emerges, where the peak in the spectral conductivity appears always below the electron Fermi surface in the underdoped and optimally doped regimes, while it appears above the electron Fermi surface in the overdoped regime. This strong asymmetry of the spectral conductivity leads to the unusual behaviors of the normal-state thermopower from the underdoped regime to the overdoped regime.