C-axis conductivity in the normal state of cuprate superconductors

Abstract

The c-axis optical conductivity and dc resistivity are calculated within the t-J model assuming that the interlayer hopping is incoherent. Use is made of numerical results for spectral functions recently obtained with the finite-temperature Lanczos method for finite two-dimensional systems. In the optimally doped regime we find an anomalous relaxation rate τ−1c∝ω + ξcT and ρc(T)∝ρab(T), suggesting a common relaxation mechanism for intra- and interlayer transport. At low doping a pseudogap opening in the density of states appears to be responsible for a semimetalliclike behavior of ρc(T). © 1998 The American Physical Society.