Effective single-band models for the high-Tc cuprates. II. Role of apical oxygen

One- and Two-Particle Correlation Functions in the Cluster Perturbation Theory for Cuprates

The physics of high-Tc superconducting cuprates is obscured by the effect of strong electronic correlations. One way to overcome this problem is to seek an exact solution at least within a small cluster and expand it to the whole crystal. Such an approach is at the heart of cluster perturbation theory (CPT). Here, we developed CPT for the dynamic spin and charge susceptibilities (spin-CPT and charge-CPT), with the correlation effects explicitly taken into account by the exact diagonalization. We applied spin-CPT and charge-CPT to the effective two-band Hubbard model for the cuprates obtained from the three-band Emery model and calculated one- and two-particle correlation functions, namely, a spectral function and spin and charge susceptibilities. The doping dependence of the spin susceptibility was studied within spin-CPT and CPT-RPA, that is, the CPT generalization of the random phase approximation (RPA). In the underdoped region, both our methods resulted in the signatures of the upper branch of the spin excitation dispersion with the lowest excitation energy at the (π,π) wave vector and no presence of low-energy incommensurate excitations. In the high doping region, both methods produced a low energy response at four incommensurate wave vectors in qualitative agreement with the results of the inelastic neutron scattering experiments on overdoped cuprates.

A Review on Strain Study of Cuprate Superconductors

Cuprate superconductors have attracted extensive attention due to their broad promising application prospects. Among the factors affecting superconductivity, the effect of strain cannot be ignored, which can significantly enhance or degrade superconductivity. In this review, we discuss and summarize the methods of applying strain to cuprate superconductors, strain measurement techniques, and the influence of strain on superconductivity. Among them, we pay special attention to the study of strain in high-temperature superconducting (HTS) films and coating. We expect this review can guide further research in the field of cuprate superconductors.

Correlated materials design: prospects and challenges

The design of correlated materials challenges researchers to combine the maturing, high throughput framework of DFT-based materials design with the rapidly-developing first-principles theory for correlated electron systems. We review the field of correlated materials, distinguishing two broad classes of correlation effects, static and dynamics, and describe methodologies to take them into account. We introduce a material design workflow, and illustrate it via examples in several materials classes, including superconductors, charge ordering materials and systems near an electronically driven metal to insulator transition, highlighting the interplay between theory and experiment with a view towards finding new materials. We review the statistical formulation of the errors of currently available methods to estimate formation energies. We formulate an approach for estimating a lower-bound for the probability of a new compound to form. Correlation effects have to be considered in all the material design steps. These include bridging between structure and property, obtaining the correct structure and predicting material stability. We introduce a post-processing strategy to take them into account.

Nodeless High-T_{c} Superconductivity in the Highly Overdoped CuO_{2} Monolayer

We study the electronic structure and superconductivity in a CuO_{2} monolayer grown recently on the d-wave cuprate superconductor Bi_{2}Sr_{2}CaCu_{2}O_{8+δ}. Density functional theory calculations indicate a significant charge transfer across the interface such that the CuO_{2} monolayer is heavily overdoped into the hole-rich regime yet inaccessible in bulk cuprates. We show that both the Cu d_{x^{2}-y^{2}} and d_{3z^{2}-r^{2}} orbitals become important and the Fermi surface contains one electron and one hole pocket associated with the two orbitals, respectively. Constructing a minimal correlated two-orbital model for the e_{g} complex, we show that the spin-orbital exchange interactions produce a nodeless superconductor with extended s-wave pairing symmetry and a pairing energy gap comparable to the bulk d-wave gap, in agreement with recent experiments. The findings point to a direction of realizing new high-T_{c} superconductors in ozone grown transition-metal-oxide monolayer heterostructures.

Direct observation of orbital hybridisation in a cuprate superconductor

The minimal ingredients to explain the essential physics of layered copper-oxide (cuprates) materials remains heavily debated. Effective low-energy single-band models of the copper–oxygen orbitals are widely used because there exists no strong experimental evidence supporting multi-band structures. Here, we report angle-resolved photoelectron spectroscopy experiments on La-based cuprates that provide direct observation of a two-band structure. This electronic structure, qualitatively consistent with density functional theory, is parametrised by a two-orbital (\documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \usepackage{amsmath} \usepackage{wasysym} \usepackage{amsfonts} \usepackage{amssymb} \usepackage{amsbsy} \usepackage{mathrsfs} \usepackage{upgreek} \setlength{\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \begin{document}$$d_{x^2 - y^2}$$\end{document}dx2-y2 and \documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \usepackage{amsmath} \usepackage{wasysym} \usepackage{amsfonts} \usepackage{amssymb} \usepackage{amsbsy} \usepackage{mathrsfs} \usepackage{upgreek} \setlength{\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \begin{document}$$d_{z^2}$$\end{document}dz2) tight-binding model. We quantify the orbital hybridisation which provides an explanation for the Fermi surface topology and the proximity of the van-Hove singularity to the Fermi level. Our analysis leads to a unification of electronic hopping parameters for single-layer cuprates and we conclude that hybridisation, restraining d-wave pairing, is an important optimisation element for superconductivity.

The essential physics of cuprate superconductors is often described by single-band models. Here, Matt et al. report direct observation of a two-band electronic structure in La-based cuprates.

Towards a First-Principles Determination of Effective Coulomb Interactions in Correlated Electron Materials: Role of Intershell Interactions

The determination of the effective Coulomb interactions to be used in low-energy Hamiltonians for materials with strong electronic correlations remains one of the bottlenecks for parameter-free electronic structure calculations. We propose and benchmark a scheme for determining the effective local Coulomb interactions for charge-transfer oxides and related compounds. Intershell interactions between electrons in the correlated shell and ligand orbitals are taken into account in an effective manner, leading to a reduction of the effective local interactions on the correlated shell. Our scheme resolves inconsistencies in the determination of effective interactions as obtained by standard methods for a wide range of materials, and allows for a conceptual understanding of the relation of cluster model and dynamical mean field-based electronic structure calculations.

Nanoscale interplay of strain and doping in a high-temperature superconductor

The highest-temperature superconductors are electronically inhomogeneous at the nanoscale, suggesting the existence of a local variable that could be harnessed to enhance the superconducting pairing. Here we report the relationship between local doping and local strain in the cuprate superconductor Bi(2)Sr(2)CaCu(2)O(8+x). We use scanning tunneling microscopy to discover that the crucial oxygen dopants are periodically distributed in correlation with local strain. Our picoscale investigation of the intraunit-cell positions of all oxygen dopants provides essential structural input for a complete microscopic theory.

Ab Initio determination of Cu 3d orbital energies in layered copper oxides

It has long been argued that the minimal model to describe the low-energy physics of the high T(c) superconducting cuprates must include copper states of other symmetries besides the canonical [see text] one, in particular the [see text] orbital. Experimental and theoretical estimates of the energy splitting of these states vary widely. With a novel ab initio quantum chemical computational scheme we determine these energies for a range of copper-oxides and -oxychlorides, determine trends with the apical Cu-ligand distances and find excellent agreement with recent Resonant Inelastic X-ray Scattering measurements, available for La(2)CuO(4), Sr(2)CuO(2)Cl(2), and CaCuO(2).

Spin-spin indirect interaction at low-energy excitation in zero-dimensional cavities

We solve the low-energy part of the spectrum of a model that describes a circularly polarized cavity mode strongly coupled to two exciton modes, each of which is coupled to a localized spin of arbitrary magnitude. In the regime in which the excitons and the cavity modes are strongly coupled, forming polaritons, the low-energy part of the spectrum can be described by an effective spin model, which contains a magnetic field, an axial anisotropy, and an Ising interaction between the localized spins. For detunings such that the low-energy states are dominated by nearly degenerate excitonic modes, the description of the low-energy states by a simple effective Hamiltonian ceases to be valid and the effective interaction tends to vanish. Finally, we discuss a possible application to two-qubit quantum computing operations in a system of transition-metal impurities embedded in quantum dots inside a micropillar.

Enhanced pairing correlations near oxygen dopants in cuprate superconductors

Recent experiments on Bi-based cuprate superconductors have revealed an unexpected enhancement of the pairing correlations near the interstitial oxygen dopant ions. Here we propose a possible mechanism--based on local screening effects--by which the oxygen dopants do modify the electronic parameters within the CuO2 planes and strongly increase the superexchange coupling J. This enhances the spin pairing effects locally and may explain the observed spatial variations of the density of states and the pairing gap.

Effect of disorder outside the CuO2 planes on Tc of copper oxide superconductors

The effect of disorder on the superconducting transition temperature T(c) of cuprate superconductors is examined. Disorder is introduced into the cation sites in the plane adjacent to the CuO2 planes of two single-layer systems, Bi(2.0)Sr(1.6)Ln(0.4)CuO(6+delta) and La(1.85-y)Nd(y)Sr0.15CuO4. Disorder is controlled by changing rare earth (Ln) ions with a different ionic radius in the former, and by varying the Nd content in the latter with the doped carrier density kept constant. We show that this type of disorder works as weak scatterers in contrast to the in-plane disorder produced by Zn, but remarkably reduces T(c), suggesting novel effects of disorder on high-T(c) superconductivity.

Enhancement of pairing correlation by t' in the two-dimensional extended t-J model

We investigate the effects of the next-nearest-neighbor (t') and the third-nearest-neighbor (t") hopping terms on superconductivity correlation in the 2D hole-doped extended t-J model based on the variational Monte Carlo, mean-field calculation and exact diagonalization method. Despite the diversity of the methods employed, the results all point to a consistent conclusion: While the d-wave superconductivity correlation is slightly suppressed by t' and t" in underdoped regions, it is greatly enhanced in the optimal and overdoped regions. The optimal Tc is a result of the balance of these two opposite trends.