Universal properties of cuprate superconductors

To provide an understanding of the universal properties emerging from the empirical correlations and phase diagrams of cuprate superconductors, we invoke the scaling theory of finite temperature and quantum critical phenomena. The universal features are traced back to the existence of quantum critical lines, representing the end lines of the finite-temperature transition surface. At the respective quantum critical lines, two-dimensional superconductor-to-insulator (2D-QSI) transitions and three-dimensional superconductor-to-normal state (3D-QSN) transitions occur. The flow to these quantum critical points is tuned by doping, substitution and anisotropy. It is shown that the empirical correlations, like the dependence of T-c on dopant and substitution concentration, the dependence of T-c on zero temperature in-plane penetration depth, etc., reflect universal properties associated with the flow to these quantum critical points, and of the crossover from one to the other. A detailed account of the flow to 2D-QSI and 3D-QSN criticality is a challenge for microscopic theories attempting to solve the puzzle of superconductivity in these materials. (C) 2002 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.