Transport properties of high-Tcsuperconductors: Fermi-liquid local-density electronic-structure predictions

Abstract

Transport properties of ${\mathrm{Ba}}_{1\mathrm{-}\mathit{x}}$ ${\mathrm{K}}_{\mathit{x}}$ ${\mathrm{BiO}}_3$ and ${\mathrm{Nd}}_{2\mathrm{-}\mathit{x}}$ ${\mathrm{Ce}}_{\mathit{x}}$ ${\mathrm{CuO}}_4$ are calculated by solving the Boltzmann equation using the electronic energy-band structures obtained with the local-density full-potential linearized augmented-plane-wave method. For ${\mathrm{Ba}}_{1\mathrm{-}\mathit{x}}$ ${\mathrm{K}}_{\mathit{x}}$ ${\mathrm{BiO}}_3$ the calculated Hall coefficient ${\mathit{R}}_{\mathit{H}}$ is (two times) larger than experiment and has the correct (negative) sign. For ${\mathrm{Nd}}_{2\mathrm{-}\mathit{x}}$ ${\mathrm{Ce}}_{\mathit{x}}$ ${\mathrm{CuO}}_4$ a positive Hall coefficient is obtained for the magnetic field oriented perpendicular to the Cu-O planes. This is to be compared with a negative experimental value found for x<0.18 and recent experiments that show a change of sign of this Hall coefficient (from negative to positive with increasing x) for x=0.18. These results indicate a trend (previously found for ${\mathrm{La}}_{2\mathrm{-}\mathit{x}}$ ${\mathrm{Sr}}_{\mathit{x}}$ ${\mathrm{CuO}}_4$) towards a regime in which the conventional band-theoretical description comes into better agreement with experiment. The highly anisotropic nature of the resistivity of ${\mathrm{Nd}}_{2\mathrm{-}\mathit{x}}$ ${\mathrm{Ce}}_{\mathit{x}}$ ${\mathrm{CuO}}_4$ is discussed.