Superconductivity in 2D electron gas induced by high energy optical phonon mode and large polarization of the STO substrate

TL;DR

This paper develops a detailed theoretical model for superconductivity in 2D electron gases at oxide interfaces, highlighting the role of high-energy optical phonons and substrate properties in enabling superconductivity at low densities.

Contribution

It provides a quantitative, approximation-free analysis of superconductivity in 2DEGs on STO-based substrates, considering electron-phonon interactions and Coulomb repulsion.

Findings

Superconductivity can occur at very low electron densities in oxide interfaces.

High phonon frequency and substrate dielectric properties are crucial for high-temperature superconductivity.

Superconductivity persists even at the band edge with zero chemical potential.

Abstract

Theory of superconductivity generated in one atomic layer thick two dimensional electron gas by a single flat band of high energy longitudinal optical phonons is considered. The polar dielectric $SrTiO_{3}$ (STO) exhibits such an energetic phonon mode and the 2DEG is created both when one unit cell $FeSe$ layer is grown on its $\left( 100\right) $ surface and on the interface with another dielectric like $LaAlO_{3}$ (LAO). We obtain a quantitative description of both systems solving the gap equation for $T_{c}$ without making use of approximations like the Kirzhnits Ansatz for arbitrary chemical potential $\mu $, electron-phonon coupling $\lambda $ and the phonon frequency $\Omega $, and direct (RPA) electron-electron repulsion strength $\alpha $. The high temperature superconductivity in 1UC$FeSe$/STO is possible due to a combination of three factors: high LO phonon frequency, large electron-phonon coupling $\lambda \sim 0.5$ and huge dielectric constant of the substrate suppression the Coulomb repulsion. It is shown that very low density electron gas in the interfaces is still capable of generating superconductivity of the order of $0.1$ K in LAO/STO. Superconductivity persists even on the band edge $\mu =0$.