Coexistence of competing orders with two energy gaps in real and momentum space in high-Tc superconductor Bi2Sr2-xLaxCuO6+delta

The superconducting phase of the high-Tc cuprates has been thought to be described by a single d-wave pairing order parameter. Recently, there has been growing evidence suggesting that another form of order, possibly inherited from the pseudogap phase above Tc, may coexist with superconductivity in the underdoped regime. Through a combined study of scanning tunneling microscopy and angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy, we report the observation of two distinct gaps (a small-gap and a large-gap) that coexist both in real space and in the anti-nodal region of momentum space in the superconducting phase of Bi2Sr2-xLaxCuO6+delta. We show that the small-gap is associated with superconductivity. The large-gap persists to temperatures above the transition temperature Tc and is found to be linked to short-range charge ordering. Remarkably, we find a strong, short-ranged correlation between the local small- and large- gap magnitudes suggesting that the superconductivity and charge ordering are affected by similar physical processes.