Correlation of strontium anharmonicity with charge-lattice dynamics of the apical oxygens and their coupling to cuprate superconductivity

TL;DR

This study links the local charge dynamics of apical oxygens and alkaline earth cations to superconductivity in cuprates, revealing an active role of the dielectric layer in high-temperature superconductivity.

Contribution

It introduces a novel perspective on the active role of the apical oxygen charge dynamics and dielectric layer in cuprate superconductivity, supported by experimental and theoretical evidence.

Findings

Strong correlation between Cu-Sr and Cu-apical-O dynamics and superconductivity.

First order phase transition to synchronized IQTPs involving apical and planar oxygens.

The Sr-O dielectric layer influences high-temperature superconductivity through collective charge dynamics.

Abstract

Cu K edge X-ray absorption spectra of overdoped superconducting $YSr_2Cu_{2.75}Mo_{0.25}O_{7.54}$ and $Sr_2CuO_{3.3}$ show a remarkably strong correlation of their superconductivity with the local dynamics of their Cu-Sr and Cu-apical-O pairs. This finding that the entire alkaline earth cation-apical O "dielectric" layer has an active role in the unusual electronic properties of cuprates has not been previously considered and has far reaching implications. We develop this idea of a possible role for the apical oxygen charge dynamics via a soft mode of the Sr by applying Kuramoto's synchronization technique to exact diagonalization calculations of two neighboring Cu-apical O pairs bridged by Sr and a planar O atom. These calculations show a first order phase transition to a synchronized state of the Internal Quantum Tunneling Polarons (IQTPs) in which a fraction of the hole originally confined to the apical O atoms of the cluster is transferred onto the planar O. This combination of experimental results and theory demonstrates that the Sr-O dielectric layer of cuprates most likely plays an important role in high temperature superconductivity via its collective charge dynamics that extends into the $CuO_2$ conducting planes.