Orbital-selective correlation effects and superconducting pairing symmetry in a multiorbital $t$-$J$ model for bilayer nickelates

TL;DR

This paper investigates the pairing symmetry and orbital-selective correlations in a bilayer two-orbital $t$-$J$ model for nickelates, revealing how these factors influence superconductivity and the dominant orbital contributions.

Contribution

It introduces a bilayer two-orbital $t$-$J$ model to study superconductivity in nickelates, highlighting the impact of orbital-selective correlations on pairing symmetry and dominant orbitals.

Findings

Superconducting phase diagram with extended $s$-wave or $d_{x^2-y^2}$-wave symmetry.

Orbital dominance in pairing can switch between $z^2$ and $x^2-y^2$ orbitals.

Electronic structure tuning affects the pairing symmetry and orbital contributions.

Abstract

The recent discovery of superconductivity in La$_3$Ni$_2$O$_7$ raises key questions about its mechanism and the nature of pairing symmetry. This system is believed to be described by a bilayer two-orbital Hubbard model. The considerations of orbital-selective Mott correlations motivate a bilayer two-orbital $t$-$J$ model and, accordingly, we study the superconducting pairing in this model. We obtain an overall phase diagram of superconductivity, where the leading channel has either extended $s$-wave or $d_{x^2-y^2}$-wave symmetry. Our analysis highlights how the orbital-selective correlations affect the superconducting pairing via the interlayer exchange couplings and low-energy electronic structure. In particular, we find that the dominant orbital for the pairing may change between $z^2$ and $x^2-y^2$ when the position of the bonding $z^2$ band is varied by tuning either the $c$-axis lattice constant or electron concentration strength. We discuss the implications of these results for the superconductivity in both bulk La$_{3}$Ni$_{2}$O$_{7}$ and its thin film counterpart.