Impurity-induced bound excitations on the surface of Bi₂Sr₂CaCu₂O₈

We have probed the effects of atomic-scale impurities on superconductivity in Bi2Sr2CaCu2O8 by performing low-temperature tunneling spectroscopy measurements with a scanning tunneling microscope. Our results show that nonmagnetic defect structures at the surface create localized low-energy excitations in their immediate vicinity. The impurity-induced excitations occur over a range of energies, including the middle of the superconducting gap, at the Fermi level. Such a zero bias state is a predicted feature for strong nonmagnetic scattering in a d-wave superconductor. © 1999 The American Physical Society.