Laser based angle-resolved photoemission, the sudden approximation, and quasiparticle-like spectral peaks in Bi2Sr2CaCu2O8+δ -: art. no. 017005

A new low photon energy regime of angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy is accessed with lasers and used to study the high T-c superconductor Bi2Sr2CaCu2O8+delta. The low energy increases bulk sensitivity, reduces background, and improves resolution. With this we observe spectral peaks which are sharp on the scale of their binding energy-the clearest evidence yet for quasiparticles in the normal state. Crucial aspects of the data such as the dispersion, superconducting gaps, and the bosonic coupling kink are found to be robust to a possible breakdown of the sudden approximation.