Hybrid Crystals of Cuprates and Iron-Based Superconductors

TL;DR

This paper proposes new hybrid compounds combining cuprate and iron-based superconductor layers, predicts their stability and electronic properties, and suggests they could shed light on high-temperature superconductivity mechanisms.

Contribution

It introduces two novel hybrid compounds, Ba$_2$CuO$_2$Fe$_2$As$_2$ and K$_2$CuO$_2$Fe$_2$Se$_2$, with potential for experimental synthesis and insight into superconductivity.

Findings

The compounds are predicted to be dynamically stable.

They inherit electronic features of both parent superconductor types.

Potential to explore pairing mechanisms in high $T_c$ superconductivity.

Abstract

We propose two possible new compounds, Ba$_2$CuO$_2$Fe$_2$As$_2$ and K$_2$CuO$_2$Fe$_2$Se$_2$, which hybridize the building blocks of two high temperature superconductors, cuprates and iron-based superconductors. These compounds consist of square CuO$_2$ layers and antifluorite-type Fe$_2$X$_2$ (X=As,Se) layers separated by Ba/K. The calculations of binding energies and phonon spectrums indicate that they are dynamically stable, which ensures that they may be experimentally synthesized. The Fermi surfaces and electronic structures of the two compounds inherit the characteristics of both cuprates and iron-based superconductors. These compounds can be superconductors with intriguing physical properties to help to determine pairing mechanisms of high $T_c$ superconductivity.