Origin and roles of a strong electron-phonon interaction in cuprate oxide superconductors

TL;DR

This paper investigates the origin and impact of a strong electron-phonon interaction in cuprate superconductors, highlighting its role in phonon mode softening and charge/spin density wave formations, while arguing it plays a minor role in superconductivity.

Contribution

It proposes that the observed charge density waves are better explained as spin density waves with harmonic effects, challenging the idea that electron-phonon interactions drive superconductivity.

Findings

Electron-phonon interaction causes phonon mode softening in cuprates.

Charge density waves are likely spin density waves with harmonic effects.

Electron-phonon interaction has minor influence on d-wave superconductivity.

Abstract

A strong electron-phonon interaction arises from the modulation of the superexchange interaction by lattice vibrations. It is responsible for the softening of the half-breathing modes around (pm pi/a,0) and (0, pm pi/a) in the two-dimensional Brillouin zone, with a being the lattice constant of CuO_2 planes, as is studied in Phys. Rev. B70, 184514 (2004). Provided that antiferromagnetic spin fluctuations are developed around Q=(pm 3 pi/4a, pm pi/a) and (pm pi/a, pm 3 pi/4a), the electron-phonon interaction can also cause the softening of Cu-O bond stretching modes around 2Q, or around (pm pi/2a,0) and (0, pm pi/2a). The softening around 2Q is accompanied by the development of charge fluctuations corresponding to the so called 4a-period stripe or 4a*4a-period checker-board state. However, an observation that the 4a-period modulating part or the 2Q part of the density of states is almost symmetric with respect to the chemical potential contradicts a scenario that the stabilization of a single-2Q or double-2Q charge density wave following the complete softening of the 2Q bond stretching modes is responsible for the ordered stripe or checker-board state. It is proposed that the stripe or checker-board state is simply a single-Q or double-Q spin density wave, whose second-harmonic effects can explain the observed almost symmetric 2Q part of the density of states. The strong electron-phonon interaction can play no or only a minor role in the occurrence of d gamma-wave superconductivity in cuprate oxides.