Renormalization from density-functional theory to strong-coupling models for electronic states in Cu-O materials

Systematic electronic structure in the cuprate parent state from quantum many-body simulations

The quantitative description of correlated electron materials remains a modern computational challenge. We demonstrate a numerical strategy to simulate correlated materials at the fully ab initio level beyond the solution of effective low-energy models and apply it to gain a detailed microscopic understanding across a family of cuprate superconducting materials in their parent undoped states. We uncover microscopic trends in the electron correlations and reveal the link between the material composition and magnetic energy scales through a many-body picture of excitation processes involving the buffer layers. Our work illustrates a path toward a quantitative and reliable understanding of more complex states of correlated materials at the ab initio many-body level.

Gapped Collective Charge Excitations and Interlayer Hopping in Cuprate Superconductors

We use resonant inelastic x-ray scattering to probe the propagation of plasmons in the electron-doped cuprate superconductor Sr_{0.9}La_{0.1}CuO_{2}. We detect a plasmon gap of ∼120  meV at the two-dimensional Brillouin zone center, indicating that low-energy plasmons in Sr_{0.9}La_{0.1}CuO_{2} are not strictly acoustic. The plasmon dispersion, including the gap, is accurately captured by layered t-J-V model calculations. A similar analysis performed on recent resonant inelastic x-ray scattering data from other cuprates suggests that the plasmon gap is generic and its size is related to the magnitude of the interlayer hopping t_{z}. Our work signifies the three dimensionality of the charge dynamics in layered cuprates and provides a new method to determine t_{z}.

Superconductivity in nickel-based 112 systems

Superconductivity has been discovered recently in infinite-layer nickel-based 112 thin films R_1−xA_xNiO₂ (R = La, Nd, Pr and A = Sr, Ca). They are isostructural to the infinite-layer cuprate (Ca,Sr)CuO₂ and are supposed to have a formal Ni 3d⁹ valence, thus providing a new platform to study the unconventional pairing mechanism of high-temperature superconductors. This important discovery immediately triggers a huge amount of innovative scientific curiosity in the field. In this paper, we try to give an overview of the recent research progress on the newly found superconducting nickelate systems, both from experimental and theoretical aspects. We mainly focus on the electronic structures, magnetic excitations, phase diagrams and superconducting gaps, and finally make some open discussions for possible pairing symmetries in Ni-based 112 systems.

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The infinite-layer nickel-based 112 thin films R_1−xA_xNiO₂ can host superconductivity up to 15 K

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R_1−xA_xNiO₂ is a multiband system, in which the short-range antiferromagnetic fluctuations can be detected

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R_1−xA_xNiO₂ has an unconventional superconducting pairing sate with a robust d-wave gap and a full gap without unified understanding

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The nickelate system provides a new platform for researching unconventional superconductivity

Electrodynamics of Topologically Ordered Quantum Phases in Dirac Materials

First-principles calculations of the electronic ground state in tantalum arsenide are combined with tight-binding calculations of the field dependence of its transport model equivalent on the graphene monolayer to study the emergence of topologically ordered quantum states, and to obtain topological phase diagrams. Our calculations include the degrees of freedom for nuclear, electronic, and photonic interactions explicitly within the quasistatic approximation to the time-propagation-dependent density functional theory. This field-theoretic approach allows us to determine the non-linear response of the ground state density matrix to the applied electromagnetic field at distinct quantum phase transition points. Our results suggest the existence of a facile electronic switch between trivial and topologically ordered quantum states that may be realizable through the application of a perpendicular electric or magnetic field alongside a staggered-sublattice potential in the underlying lattice. Signatures of the near field electrodynamics in nanoclusters show the formation of a quantum fluid phase at the topological quantum phase transition points. The emergent carrier density wave transport phase is discussed to show that transmission through the collective excitation mode in multilayer heterostructures is a unique possibility in plasmonic, optoelectronic, and photonic applications when atomic clusters of Dirac materials are integrated within nanostructures, as patterned or continuous surfaces.

Detection of Acoustic Plasmons in Hole-Doped Lanthanum and Bismuth Cuprate Superconductors Using Resonant Inelastic X-Ray Scattering

High T_{c} superconductors show a rich variety of phases associated with their charge degrees of freedom. Valence charges can give rise to charge ordering or acoustic plasmons in these layered cuprate superconductors. While charge ordering has been observed for both hole- and electron-doped cuprates, acoustic plasmons have only been found in electron-doped materials. Here, we use resonant inelastic x-ray scattering to observe the presence of acoustic plasmons in two families of hole-doped cuprate superconductors (La_{1.84}Sr_{0.16}CuO_{4} and Bi_{2}Sr_{1.6}La_{0.4}CuO_{6+δ}), crucially completing the picture. Interestingly, in contrast to the quasistatic charge ordering which manifests at both Cu and O sites, the observed acoustic plasmons are predominantly associated with the O sites, revealing a unique dichotomy in the behavior of valence charges in hole-doped cuprates.

Doublon-holon pairing mechanism via exchange interaction in two-dimensional cuprate Mott insulators

Coupling of charge and spin degrees of freedom is a critical feature of correlated electron oxides, as represented by the spin-related mechanism of a Cooper pair under high-T _c superconductivity. A doublon-holon pair generated on an antiferromagnetic spin background is also predicted to attract each other via the spin-spin interaction J, similar to a Cooper pair, while its evidence is difficult to obtain experimentally. Here, we investigate such an excitonic effect by electroreflectance spectroscopy using terahertz electric field pulses in undoped cuprates: Nd₂CuO₄, Sr₂CuO₂Cl₂, and La₂CuO₄. Analyses of the spectral changes of reflectivity under electric fields reveal that the splitting of odd-parity and even-parity excitons, a measure of doublon-holon binding energy, increases with J. This trend is reproduced by t-J-type model calculations, providing strong evidence of the spin-related doublon-holon pairing. Agreement with the calculations supports the s-wave symmetry of the doublon-holon pair in contrast to the d-wave Cooper pair in doped cuprates.

Differences between the insulating limit quasiparticles of one-band and three-band cuprate models

We study the charge dynamics of the quasiparticle that forms when a single hole is doped in a two-dimensional antiferromagnet as described by the one-band t-t'-t"-J model, using a variational approximation that includes spin fluctuations in the vicinity of the hole. We explain why the spin fluctuations and the longer range hopping have complementary contributions to the quasiparticle dynamics, and thus why both are essential to obtain a dispersion in agreement with that measured experimentally. This is very different from the three-band Emery model in the strongly-correlated limit, where the same variational approximation shows that spin fluctuations have a minor effect on the quasiparticle dynamics. This difference proves that these one-band and three-band models describe qualitatively different quasiparticles in the insulating limit, and therefore that they cannot both be suitable to describe the physics of very underdoped cuprates.

Strongly Enhanced Superconductivity in Coupled t-J Segments

The t-J Hamiltonian is one of the cornerstones in the theoretical study of strongly correlated copper-oxide based materials. Using the density-matrix renormalization group method we obtain the phase diagram of the one-dimensional t-J chain in the presence of a periodic hopping modulation, as a prototype of coupled-segment models. While in the uniform 1D t-J model the near half-filling superconducting state dominates only at unphysically large values of the exchange coupling constant J/t>3; we show that a small hopping and exchange modulation very strongly reduces the critical coupling to be as low as J/t∼1/3--well within the physical regime. The phase diagram as a function of the electron filling also exhibits metallic, insulating line phases and regions of phase separation. We suggest that a superconducting state is easily stabilized if t-J segments creating local spin-singlet pairing are coupled to each other--another example is the ladder system.

Pairing mechanism for the high-TC superconductivity: symmetries and thermodynamic properties

The pairing mechanism for the high-Tc superconductors based on the electron-phonon (EPH) and electron-electron-phonon (EEPH) interactions has been presented. On the fold mean-field level, it has been proven, that the obtained s-wave model supplements the predictions based on the BCS van Hove scenario. In particular: (i) For strong EEPH coupling and T < T(C) the energy gap (Δtot) is very weak temperature dependent; up to the critical temperature Δtot extends into the anomalous normal state to the Nernst temperature. (ii) The model explains well the experimental dependence of the ratio R(1) ≡ 2Δ(tot)(0)/k(B)T(C) on doping for the reported superconductors in the terms of the few fundamental parameters. In the presented paper, the properties of the d-wave superconducting state in the two-dimensional system have been also studied. The obtained results, like for s-wave, have shown the energy gap amplitude crossover from the BCS to non-BCS behavior, as the value of the EEPH potential increases. However, for T > T(C) the energy gap amplitude extends into the anomalous normal state to the pseudogap temperature. Finally, it has been presented that the anisotropic model explains the dependence of the ratio R(1) on doping for the considered superconductors.

Coulomb repulsion and correlation strength in LaFeAsO from density functional and dynamical mean-field theories

The LDA+DMFT (local density approximation combined with dynamical mean-field theory) computation scheme has been used to calculate spectral properties of LaFeAsO-the parent compound of the new high-T(c) iron oxypnictides. The average Coulomb repulsion [Formula: see text] and Hund's exchange J parameters for iron 3d electrons were calculated using the first-principles constrained density functional theory scheme in the Wannier functions formalism. Resulting values strongly depend on the number of states taken into account in the calculations: when the full set of O-2p, As-4p and Fe-3d orbitals and the corresponding bands are included, the interaction parameters [Formula: see text] eV and J = 0.8 eV are obtained. In contrast, when the basis set is restricted to the Fe-3d orbitals and bands only, the calculation gives much smaller values of [Formula: see text] eV, J = 0.5 eV. Nevertheless, DMFT calculations with both parameter sets and the corresponding basis sets result in a weakly correlated electronic structure that is in agreement with the experimental x-ray and photoemission spectra.

Dynamical mean field theory of an effective three-band model for NaxCoO2

We derive an effective Hamiltonian for highly correlated t_{2g} states centered at the Co sites of NaxCoO2. The essential ingredients of the model are an O mediated hopping, a trigonal crystal-field splitting, and on-site effective interactions derived from the exact solution of a multiorbital model in a CoO6 cluster, with parameters determined previously. The effective model is solved by dynamical mean field theory. We obtain a Fermi surface and electronic dispersion that agrees well with angle-resolved photoemission spectra. Our results also elucidate the origin of the "sinking pockets" in different doping regimes.

Orbital currents in extended Hubbard models of high-Tc cuprate superconductors

Motivated by the recent report of broken time-reversal symmetry and zero momentum magnetic scattering in underdoped cuprates, we investigate under which circumstances orbital currents circulating inside a unit cell might be stabilized in extended Hubbard models that explicitly include oxygen orbitals. Using Gutzwiller projected variational wave functions that treat on an equal footing all instabilities, we show that orbital currents indeed develop on finite clusters and that they are stabilized in the thermodynamic limit if additional interactions, e.g., strong hybridization with apical oxygens, are included in the model.

Design of a d(1)-analogue of cuprates: Sr(2)VO(4) and Ba(2)VO(4) under pressure

By means of a combination of the local density approximation and dynamical mean field theory (LDA + DMFT), we study the possibility of making a d(1) analogue of d(9) cuprates on the basis of Sr(2)VO(4). We calculate the electronic structure of Sr(2)VO(4) under pressure, and show that while the material is a 1/6-filled three-band system at ambient pressure with a small level splitting between the d(xy)- and d(yz/zx)-bands, an orbital polarization occurs under sufficiently high uniaxial pressure in the c-direction. While all energy scales are relatively small, the electronic structure of Sr(2)VO(4) under pressure is similar to that of La(2)CuO(4); it is a two-dimensional half-filled single-band system which has, relative to the nearest neighbour hopping, a similar Coulomb repulsion and next-nearest neighbour hopping. We also study the effect of substituting Sr by Ba, i.e., chemical pressure, and show that the pressure needed for the orbital polarization is considerably reduced.

No evidence for spontaneous orbital currents in numerical studies of three-band models for the CuO planes of high temperature superconductors

We have numerically evaluated the current-current correlations for three-band models of the CuO planes in high-T(c) superconductors at hole doping x = 1/8. The results show no evidence for the orbital current patterns proposed by Varma. If such patterns exist, the associated energy is estimated to be smaller than 5 meV per link even if [formula: see text]. Assuming that the three-band models are adequate, quantum critical fluctuations of such patterns hence cannot be responsible for phenomena occurring at significantly higher energies, such as superconductivity or the anomalous properties of the strange metal phase.

Frustrated cuprate route from antiferromagnetic to ferromagnetic spin-1/2 Heisenberg chains: Li2ZrCuO4 as a missing link near the quantum critical point

From thermodynamics, local spin density approximation+Hubbard U studies and exact diagonalizations of a five-band Hubbard model on CuO2 stripes we find that Li2ZrCuO4 (Li2CuZrO4 in traditional notation) is close to a ferromagnetic critical point. Analyzing its susceptibility chi(T) and specific heat cp(T,H) within a Heisenberg model, we show that the ratio of the 2nd to the 1st neighbor exchange integrals alpha=-J2/J1 approximately 0.3 is close to the critical value alphac=1/4. Comparing with related chain cuprates we explain the rather strong field dependence of cp, the monotonic downshift of the peak of chi(T), and its increase for alpha-->alphac+0.

Electron-phonon interaction in the t-J model

We derive a t-J model with electron-phonon coupling from the three-band model, considering modulation of both hopping and Coulomb integrals by phonons. While the modulation of the hopping integrals dominates, the modulation of the Coulomb integrals cannot be neglected. The model explains the experimentally observed anomalous softening of the half-breathing mode upon doping and a weaker softening of the breathing mode. It is shown that other phonons are not strongly influenced, and, in particular, the coupling to a buckling mode is not strong in this model.

Pairing correlations on t-U-J ladders

We find that the pairing correlations on the usual t-U Hubbard ladder are significantly enhanced by the addition of a nearest-neighbor exchange interaction J. Likewise, these correlations are also enhanced for the t-J model when the on-site Coulomb interaction is reduced from infinity. Moreover, the pairing correlations are larger on a t-U-J ladder than on a t-J(eff) ladder in which J(eff) has been adjusted so that the two models have the same spin gap at half filling. This enhancement of the pairing correlations is associated with an increase in the pair-binding energy and the pair mobility in the t-U-J model and points to the importance of the charge-transfer nature of the cuprate systems.

Electronic structure of the high T c superconductors

The high T c superconductors have one structural element in common, namely CuO 2 planes which are lightly doped away from an average valence of Cu 2+ . In the absence of this doping the planes are in a Mott insulating state with local S = 1/2 moments on each Cu-site. There is considerable evidence both experimental and theoretical supporting the assignment of the extra holes, introduced by doping, to the antibonding O 2p-orbitals. The strong hybridization between these orbitals and the central Cu 3d-orbitals makes it favourable to bind the extra hole with a Cu 2+ local moment to form a spin singlet state centred on a CuO 4 square. This singlet, however, is mobile and the combination of mobile charged singlets and local spins is described by the so-called t-J model. This has a number of consequences which can be tested experimentally. For example, one can use this model to estimate the hyperfine coupling constants which are measured in NMR experiments. The prediction that the only spin degrees of freedom are the local Cu 2+ spins even upon doping can also be tested in NMR experiments.