Normal-state C-axis Resistivity of the High-tc Cuprate Superconductors

It is shown that a strong intraplanar incoherent scattering can effectively block the interplanar coherent tunneling between the weakly coupled planes of the highly anisotropic but clean (intrinsic) materials such as the optimally doped high-Tc layered cuprate superconductors. The calculated normal-state C-axis resistivity ρc(T ) then follows the metal-like temperature dependence of the ab-plane resistivity ρab(T ) at high temperatures. At low enough temperatures, however, ρc(T ) exhibits a non-metal like upturn even as ρab(T ) remains metallic. Moreover, in the metallic regime, ρc(T ) is not limited by the maximum metallic resistivity of Mott-Ioffe-Regel. This correlation between the intrinsic ρc(T ) and ρab(T ) is observed in the normal state of the high-Tc stoichiometric cuprates.