Defect-induced changes in the spectral properties of high-T_c cuprates

Superconductivity in high-Tc cuprates is particularly sensitive to disorder due to the unconventional d-wave pairing symmetry. We investigated effects of disorder on the spectral properties of Bi2Sr2CaCu2O8+x high-Tc superconductor. We found that already small defect densities suppress the characteristic spectral signature of the superconducting state. The spectral line shape clearly reflects new excitations within the gap, as expected for defect-induced pair breaking. At the lowest defect concentrations the normal state remains unaffected, while increased disorder leads to suppression of the normal quasiparticle peaks