Superconducting Gap within a Modified Interlayer Tunneling Model

A modified version of the interlayer tunneling model, including interlayer single particle hopping (ISPH), is considered as a phenomenological model to describe cuprate superconductors. The effective ISPH (teff ⊥ ) is taken along with a probability factor P , that involves the normal state pseudogap (Eg). This makes t eff ⊥ to mimic experimental observations that, ISPH is small in the underdoped regime and increases towards overdoping. Within the modified model, we establish the absence of bilayer splitting as observed in case of layered cuprates. Transition temperature (Tc) and the superconducting gap are calculated. A match, to the T-dependent superconducting gap data from experiment, is obtained and high values of the ratio of the superconducting gap to Tc are recovered. Depending on the values of Eg, Tc as a function of interlayer coupling shows mixed behaviour. This is a prediction and can be checked further. PACS numbers: 74.20.-z, 74.62.Dh, 74.25.Bt