A new state of matter: the superconductivity of cuprates probed with electronic Raman scattering

Cuprates containing mercury holds the record of the highest critical temperature ever found: 165 Kelvin under a pressure of 30.109 Pascal. The pairing mechanism that leads to high temperature super-conductivity in the cuprates is still a subject of intense controversy and the description of their electron wave function has not yet been achieved. Electronic Raman scattering (ERS) is a powerful tool for probing selectively the electronic excitations in different regions of the Fermi surface of the cuprates by orienting the incoming and outgoing light polarizations. This article describes the specificities of cuprates concerning super-conductivity and reports their investigation through ERS