Doping dependence of pseudogap and related charge dynamics in Nd2-xCexCuO4 -: art. no. 217001

A notable pseudogap (Delta (PG) as large as 0.2-0.4 eV) has been found below a characteristic temperature T* in the optical conductivity spectrum for metallic but nonsuperconducting crystals of Nd2-xCexCuO4 (x < 0.15). The (PG) and T* decrease with doping x, holding the relation of Delta (PG) approximate to 10k(B)T*. The Drude-like component is observed to evolve concomitantly with the pseudogap. The T* almost coincides with another characteristic temperature T-0 that scales the Hall coefficient. These results indicate that the charge transport in the underdoped region is under the strong influence of the pseudogap state.