Pair-Hopping Mechanism for Layered Superconductors

TL;DR

This paper introduces a pair-hopping mechanism driven by charge fluctuations in layered superconductors, highlighting how interlayer Coulomb interactions can stabilize superconductivity even when single-electron tunneling is suppressed.

Contribution

It proposes a novel charge fluctuation-based pair-hopping mechanism for layered superconductors using multireference density functional theory.

Findings

Interlayer pair hopping stabilizes superconductivity without single-electron tunneling.

Superconducting states can coexist with hidden order parameters.

Material structures favoring pair-hopping are identified.

Abstract

We propose a possible charge fluctuation effect expected in layered superconducting materials. In the multireference density functional theory, relevant fluctuation channels for the Josephson coupling between superconducting layers include the interlayer pair hopping derived from the Coulomb repulsion. When interlayer single-electron tunneling processes are irrelevant in the Kohn-Sham electronic band structure calculation, the two-body effective interactions stabilize a superconducting phase. This state is also regarded as a valence-bond solid in a bulk electronic state. The hidden order parameters coexist with the superconducting order parameter when the charging effect of a layer is comparable to the pair hopping. Relevant materials structures favorable for the pair-hopping mechanism are discussed.