Spectral and optical properties in the antiphase stripe phase of the cuprate superconductors

We investigate the superconducting order parameter, the spectral and optical properties in a stripe model with spin (charge) domain-derived scattering potential $V_s$ ($V_c$). We show that the charge domain-derived scattering is less effective than the spin scattering on the suppression of superconductivity. For $V_s\gg V_c$, the spectral weight concentrates on the ($\pi ,0$) antinodal region, and a finite energy peak appears in the optical conductivity with the disappearance of the Drude peak. But for $V_{s}\approx V_{c}$,thespectralweightconcentratesonthe($\pi/2,\pi/2$) nodal region, and a residual Drude peak exists in the optical conductivity without the finite energy peak. These results consistently account for the divergent observations in the ARPES and optical conductivity experiments in several high-$T_c$ cuprates, and suggest that the “insulating” and “metallic” properties are intrinsic to the stripe state, depending on the relative strength of the spin and charge domain-derived scattering potentials.