Isotope effects in high-Tc cuprate superconductors: Ultimate proof for bipolaron theory of superconductivity

Developing a theory of high-temperature superconductivity in copper oxides is one of the outstanding problems in physics. Twenty-five years after its discovery, no consensus on the microscopic theory has been reached despite tremendous theoretical and experimental efforts. Attempts to understand this problem are hindered by the subtle interplay among a few mechanisms and the presence of several nearly degenerate and competing phases in these systems. Here we provide unified parameter-free explanation of the observed oxygen-isotope effects on the critical temperature, the magnetic-field penetration depth, and on the normal-state pseudogap for underdoped cuprate superconductors within the framework of the bipolaron theory compatible with the strong Coulomb and Froehlich interactions, and with many other independent observations in these highly polarizable doped insulators. Remarkably, we also quantitatively explain measured critical temperatures and magnitudes of the magnetic-field penetration depth. The present work thus represents an ultimate proof of the bipolaron theory of high-temperature superconductivity, which takes into account essential Coulomb and electron-phonon interactions.Comment: 8 pages, 2 figure

Soliton Wall Superlattice in Quasi-One-Dimensional Conductor (Per)2Pt(mnt)2

We suggest a model to explain the appearance of a high resistance high magnetic field charge-density-wave (CDW) phase, discovered by D. Graf et al. [Phys. Rev. Lett. v. 93, 076406 (2004)] in (Per)2Pt(mnt)2. In particular, we show that the Pauli spin-splitting effects improve the nesting properties of a realistic quasi-one-dimensional electron spectrum and, therefore, a high resistance Peierls CDW phase is stabilized in high magnetic fields. In low and very high magnetic fields, a periodic soliton wall superlattice (SWS) phase is found to be a ground state. We suggest experimental studies of the predicted phase transitions between the Peierls and SWS CDW phases in (Per)2Pt(mnt)2 to discover a unique SWS phase.Comment: 10 pages, 3 figures. Submitted to Physical Review Letters (February 19, 2007

Green's and spectral functions of the small Frolich polaron

According to recent Quantum Monte Carlo simulations the small polaron theory is practically exact in a wide range of the long-range (Frohlich) electron-phonon coupling and adiabatic ratio. We apply the Lang-Firsov transformation to convert the strong-coupling term in the Hamiltonian into the form of an effective hopping integral and derive the single-particle Green's function describing propagation of the small Frohlich polaron. One and two dimensional spectral functions are studied by expanding the Green's function perturbatively. Numerical calculations of the spectral functions are produced. Remarkably, the coherent spectral weight (Z) and effective mass (Z') renormalisation exponents are found to be different with Z'>>Z, which can explain a small coherent spectral weight and a relatively moderate mass enhancement in oxides.Comment: RevTeX, 5 pages, 2 postscript figures, LaTeX processing problems correcte

Key pairing interaction in layered doped ionic insulators

A controversial issue on whether the electron-phonon interaction (EPI) is crucial for high-temperature superconductivity or it is weak and inessential has remained one of the most challenging problems of contemporary condensed matter physics. We employ a continuum RPA approximation for the dielectric response function allowing for a selfconsistent semi-analytical evaluation of the EPI strength, electron-electron attractions, and the carrier mass renormalisation in layered high-temperature superconductors. We show that the Fr\"{o}hlich EPI with high-frequency optical phonons in doped ionic lattices is the key pairing interaction, which is beyond the BCS-Migdal-Eliashberg approximation in underdoped superconductors, and it remains a significant player in overdoped compounds.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figure

Reflection High-Energy Electron Diffraction oscillations during epitaxial growth of artificially layered films of (BaCuOx)m /(CaCuO2)n

Pulsed Laser Deposition in molecular-beam epitaxy environment (Laser-MBE) has been used to grow high quality BaCuOx/CaCuO2 superlattices. In situ Reflection High Energy Electron Diffraction (RHEED) shows that the growth mechanism is 2-dimensional. Furthermore, weak but reproducible RHEED intensity oscillations have been monitored during the growth. Ex-situ x-ray diffraction spectra confirmed the growth rate deduced from RHEED oscillations. Such results demonstrate that RHEED oscillations can be used, even for (BaCuOx)2/(CaCuO2)2 superlattices, for phase locking of the growth.Comment: 9 pages, 5 figures. Corresponding author: Dr. A. Tebano: [email protected]