A spatial interpretation of emerging superconductivity in lightly doped cuprates

TL;DR

This paper provides a spatial interpretation of emergent superconductivity in lightly doped cuprates, explaining observed domain patterns through an attractive mechanism influencing hole distribution on copper sites.

Contribution

It introduces a geometrical model linking hole-rich and hole-poor ladder formation to an attractive mechanism, aligning with experimental observations.

Findings

Domains of alternating hole-rich and hole-poor ladders observed experimentally.

The model predicts a periodicity of four lattice spacings in the CuO plane.

The interpretation supports a spatial mechanism for superconductivity emergence.

Abstract

The formation of domains comprising alternating 'hole rich' and 'hole poor' ladders recently observed by Scanning Tunneling Microscopy by Kohsaka et al., on lightly hole doped cuprates, is interpreted in terms of an attractive mechanism which favors the presence of doped holes on Cu sites located each on one side of an oxygen atom. This mechanism leads to a geometrical pattern of alternating hole-rich and hole-poor ladders with a periodicity equal to 4 times the lattice spacing in the CuO plane, as observed experimentally. To cite this article: G. Deutscher, P.-G. de Gennes, C. R. Physique 8 (2007).