Interlayer transport as a probe for the pseudogap in superconducting electron-doped cuprates

Abstract We report on the interlayer transport study in superconducting electron-doped Sm 2 - x Ce x CuO 4 - δ ( 0.14 ≲ x ≲ 0.16 ) crystals. Below a characteristic temperature T * , excess c-axis resistivity Δ ρ c that decreases with magnetic fields has been observed in the normal state, which is similar to the features of the pseudogap state in Bi 2 Sr 2 CaCu 2 O 8 + y . We find that the magnitude of Δ ρ c strongly correlates with the pseudogap closing field H pg determined from the observed negative magnetoresistance, whose Zeeman energy scale agrees with T * . Our interlayer magneto-transport results provide the pseudogap phase diagrams essentially similar for both electron- and hole-doped cuprate superconductors.