Quantum interference in nested d-wave superconductors: A real-space perspective

We study the local density of states around potential scatterers in d-wave superconductors, and show that quantum interference between impurity states is not negligible for experimentally relevant impurity concentrations. The two-impurity model is used as a paradigm to understand these effects analytically and in interpreting numerical solutions of the Bogoliubov–de Gennes equations on fully disordered systems. We focus primarily on the globally particle-hole symmetric model which has been the subject of considerable controversy, and give evidence that a zero-energy delta function exists in the density of states. The anomalous spectral weight at zero energy is seen to arise from resonant impurity states belonging to a particular sublattice, exactly as in the two-impurity version of this model. We discuss the implications of these findings for realistic models of the cuprates. In particular, we show how apparently isolated impurity states can be observed in STM experiments, despite long-range interference, due to averaging over a finite energy range within the impurity band.