Evidence of the temperature-dependent interlayer coupling from the anisotropic transport properties in Co-substituted single-crystal

We report on the effect of Co impurity substitution on the anisotropic transport properties of (Formula presented) single crystals. With Co doping, there is an increase in anisotropy (Formula presented) estimated from the scaling of the angular dependence of the in-plane resistivity with reduced field as well as in the out-of-plane resistivity. These results can be quantitatively explained by the two-dimensional Lawrence-Doniach model, if we assume that the anisotropy in the superconducting state is determined by the interlayer coupling just above (Formula presented). The analysis highlights the specific feature in high-(Formula presented) cuprates that the effective interlayer coupling depends on temperature.