Band Oscillation Correlated with Tc for Superconductors

TL;DR

This paper demonstrates that band oscillations in superconductors, driven by coherent electron-phonon interactions, are correlated with their transition temperatures, offering insights into the pairing mechanism and potential pathways for higher temperature superconductor design.

Contribution

It introduces real-time density functional theory simulations revealing a new mode-selective, coherent electron-phonon excitation phenomenon linked to superconducting transition temperatures.

Findings

Band oscillation frequency correlates with Tc across various superconductor families.

Electron-phonon excitation is coherent and mode-selective.

The results provide insights into the pairing mechanism in unconventional superconductors.

Abstract

Previous theoretical studies on superconductivity were focused on the static states and adiabatic processes. Quantum mechanics simulations of time-dependent processes in superconductors were rarely performed previously. Here we use real-time time-dependent density functional theory to show a new phenomenon that the electron-phonon excitation is coherent and mode-selective, resulting in a periodic band oscillation. Surprisingly, the predicted oscillation frequency of charges or bands here are strongly correlated with a broad range of superconductivity transition temperatures of various main families of superconductors, including cuprates, Fe-based, hydrides, and WTe2. This shed light on the pairing mechanism in unconventional superconductors, paving the way for the design of higher temperature superconductors.