Disentangling Cooper-pair formation above the transition temperature from the pseudogap state in the cuprates

The discovery of the pseudogap in the cuprates created significant excitement as it was believed to be a signature of pairing, in some cases above room temperature. Indeed, a number of experiments detected phase-fluctuating superconductivity above the transition temperature Tc (refs 5, 6, 7 8, 9). However, several recent experiments reported that the pseudogap and superconducting state are characterized by different energy scales, and probably compete with each other, leaving open the question of whether the pseudogap is caused by pair formation. Here we report the discovery of a spectroscopic signature of pair formation and demonstrate that in a region commonly referred to as the pseudogap, two distinct states coexist: one that is due to pair formation and persists to an intermediate temperature Tpair