Gap-inhomogeneity-induced electronic states in superconducting Bi2Sr2CaCu2O8+δ -: art. no. 017007

In this Letter, we analyze, using scanning tunneling spectroscopy, the density of electronic states in nearly optimally doped Bi2Sr2CaCu2O8+delta in zero magnetic field. Focusing on the superconducting gap, we find patches of what appear to be two different phases in a background of some average gap, one with a relatively small gap and sharp large coherence peaks and one characterized by a large gap with broad weak coherence peaks. We compare these spectra with calculations of the local density of states for a simple phenomenological model in which a 2 xi(0)x2 xi(0) patch with an enhanced or suppressed d-wave gap amplitude is embedded in a region with a uniform average d-wave gap.