Strong-coupling Superconductivity in the Cuprate Oxide

TL;DR

This paper investigates the mechanism of strong-coupling superconductivity in cuprate oxides using a Kondo-lattice approach, revealing how electron-phonon interactions influence quasiparticle dispersion and gap anisotropy.

Contribution

It introduces a theoretical framework combining the t-J model with electron-phonon interactions, demonstrating the role of spin fluctuations and phonons in d-wave pairing and spectral features.

Findings

Fermi liquid remains normal even with superconducting order.

Electron-phonon interactions cause kink structures in quasiparticle dispersion.

Density of states exhibits dip-and-hump features influenced by phonons.

Abstract

Superconductivity in the cuprate oxide is studied by Kondo-lattice theory based on the t-J model with the el-ph interaction arising from the modulation of the superexchange interaction by phonons. The self-energy of electrons is decomposed into the single-site and multisite ones. It is proved by using the mapping of the single-site one in the t-J model to its corresponding one in the Anderson model that the single-site self-energy is that of a normal Fermi liquid, even if a superconducting (SC) order parameter appears or the multisite one is anomalous. The electron liquid characterized by the single-site self-energy is a normal Fermi liquid. The Fermi liquid is further stabilized by the RVB mechanism. The stabilized Fermi liquid is a relevant unperturbed state that can be used to study superconductivity and anomalous Fermi-liquid behaviors. The so-called spin-fluctuation-mediated exchange interaction, which includes the superexchange interaction as a part, is the attractive interaction that binds d-wave Cooper pairs. An analysis of the spin susceptibility implies that, because of the el-ph interaction, the imaginary part of the exchange interaction has a sharp peak or dip at \pm\omega^*, where \omega^*\simeq \omega_ph in the normal state and \epsilon_G/2 \lessim \omega^* \lessim \epsilon_G /2+ \omega_ph in the SC state, where \omega_ph is the energy of relevant phonons and \epsilon_G is the SC gap. If the imaginary part has a sharp peak or dip at \pm\omega^*, the dispersion relation of quasi-particles has kink structures near \pm\omega^* above and below the chemical potential, the density of states has dip-and-hump structures near \pm \omega^* outside the coherence peaks in the SC state, and the anisotropy of the gap deviates from the simple d-wave anisotropy.