Signatures of modulated pair interaction in cuprate superconductors

Recent low-temperature scanning tunnelling spectroscopy experiments on the surface of Bi2Sr2CaCu2O8+x have revealed a strong positive correlation between the position of localized resonances at 960 meV identified with interstitial oxygen dopants and the size of the local spectral gap. We review efforts to understand these correlations within a model where the dopants modulate the pair interaction on an atomic scale. We provide further evidence for this model by comparing the correlations between the dopants and the local density of states with experimental results. 2007 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.