Absence of pseudogap in heavily overdoped Bi2Sr2CaCu2O8+? from tunneling spectroscopy of break junctions

Abstract

We report tunneling spectroscopy of superconductor-insulator-superconductor break junctions on heavily overdoped Bi2Sr2CaCu2O8+δ with Tc = 56 K. At T ≪ Tc, the junction conductances display well-defined quasiparticle peaks at ±2Δ and in some cases a Josephson current at zero bias. Gap values as small as Δ = 10.5 meV have been observed leading to 2Δ/kTc near the BCS limit for dx2-y2 pairing. Temperature dependence of the gap magnitude, Δ(T), follows the BCS relation and both the quasiparticle gap and Josephson current vanish for T > Tc. Above Tc, the tunneling conductance shows a flat background without any indication of a pseudogap near the Fermi level.