NMR studies of pseudogap and electronic inhomogeneity in Bi2Sr2CaCu2O8+δ.

We report 17O NMR measurements in single crystals of overdoped Bi2Sr2CaCu2O8+δ with Tc = 82 K. We measure the full anisotropy of the planar oxygen Knight shift, electric field gradient, and spin-lattice-relaxation rate tensors, and show that the entire temperature dependence is determined by the suppression of the density of states in the pseudogap below T* ~ 94 K. The linewidth can be explained by a combination of magnetic and quadrupolar broadening as a result of an inhomogeneous distribution of local hole concentrations that is consistent with scanning tunneling microscopy measurements. This distribution is temperature independent, does not break C4 symmetry, and exhibits no change below T* or Tc. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]