Neutron-spin resonance in the optimally electron-doped superconductor Nd1.85Ce0.15CuO4-δ

We use inelastic neutron scattering to probe magnetic excitations of an optimally electron-doped superconductor Nd1.85Ce0.15CuO4-δ above and below its superconducting transition temperature Tc=25K. In addition to gradually opening a spin pseudogap at the antiferromagnetic ordering wave vector Q=(1/2,1/2,0), the effect of superconductivity is to form a resonance centered also at Q=(1/2,1/2,0) but at energies above the spin pseudogap. The intensity of the resonance develops like a superconducting order parameter, similar to those for hole-doped superconductors and electron-doped Pr0.88LaCe0.12CuO4. The resonance is therefore a general phenomenon of cuprate superconductors, and must be fundamental to the mechanism of high-Tc superconductivity.