Pairing without $\gamma$-Pocket in the La$_3$Ni$_2$O$_7$ Thin Film

TL;DR

This study investigates the pairing mechanism in La$_3$Ni$_2$O$_7$ thin films lacking the $\

Contribution

It demonstrates that $s^$-wave pairing occurs without the $\

Findings

The pairing is driven by interlayer interactions of the $d_{x^2-y^2}$ orbital.

Both weak- and strong-coupling approaches yield consistent $s^$-wave pairing results.

The pairing pattern aligns with recent experimental observations.

Abstract

The recent discovery of high-temperature superconductivity (HTSC) in the La$_3$Ni$_2$O$_7$ ultrathin film at ambient pressure has aroused great research interest. The $\gamma$-pocket formed by the bonding $d_{z^2}$ band, which was previously proposed to be crucial in the pairing mechanism of pressurized bulk La$_3$Ni$_2$O$_7$, is reported to be either present or absent here by different experimental groups, giving rise to the problem: what is the pairing mechanism and pairing nature without the $\gamma$-pocket? Here, we start from a band structure obtained via density-functional-theoretical calculation, which exhibits no $\gamma$-pocket. Then, equipped with electron interactions, we study the pairing nature via combined weak- and strong- coupling approaches, which provide consistent results. In the weak-coupling study, the nesting between the $\alpha$- and $\beta$- pockets leads to an $s^\pm$-wave pairing in which the gap signs on the two pockets are opposite, as provided by our random-phase-approximation based calculations. In real-space, the pairing pattern is dominated by the interlayer pairing of the $d_{x^2-y^2}$ orbital. In the strong-coupling study, as the $d_{z^2}$ orbitals are nearly half-filled and hence localized, the $d_{x^2-y^2}$ orbitals carry the HTSC. Driven by the interlayer superexchange transferred from the $d_{z^2}$ orbital through the Hund's rule coupling, the $d_{x^2-y^2}$ orbital electrons form interlayer $s$-wave pairing, as suggested by our slave-boson-mean-field study on the related two-orbital $t$-$J$ model. Projected onto the Fermi surface, this pairing just gives the $s^\pm$-wave pattern consistent with that obtained in the weak-coupling study. Our result is consistent with that obtained in recent scanning tunneling microscopy experiment.