The tunneling spectra of high-temperature superconductors on ${\mathrm{Bi}}_2{\mathrm{Sr}}_2{\mathrm{CaCu}}_2{\mathrm{O}}_{8+\delta }\left(\mathrm{Bi}\text{−}2212\right)$ reproducibly show a high-bias structure in the form of a dip-hump at voltages higher than the gap voltage. Of central concern is whether this feature originates from the normal state background or is intrinsic to the superconducting mechanism. We address this issue by generating a set of model conductance curves—a “normal state” conductance that takes into account effects such as the band structure and a possible pseudogap, and a pure superconducting state conductance. When combined, the result shows that the dip-hump feature present in the experimental conductance curves cannot be naively attributed to a normal state effect. In particular, strong dip features found in superconductor-insulator-superconductor data on optimally doped Bi-2212, including negative $dI∕dV$, cannot be a consequence of an extrinsic pseudogap. However, such features can easily arise from state-conserving deviations in the superconducting density of states, e.g., from strong-coupling effects.

• Received 9 November 2005

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevB.73.092514