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Title: Unlikelihood of a phonon mechanism for the high-temperature superconductivity in La3Ni2O7

Journal Article · · npj Computational Materials
 [1]; ORCiD logo [2];  [3];  [4]; ORCiD logo [2]
  1. National University of Singapore (Singapore); University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA (United States)
  2. University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA (United States)
  3. Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States)
  4. National University of Singapore (Singapore)

The discovery of ~80 K superconductivity in nickelate La3Ni2O7 under pressure has ignited intense interest. Here, we present a comprehensive first-principles study of the electron-phonon (e-ph) coupling in La3Ni2O7 and its implications on the observed superconductivity. Our results conclude that the e-ph coupling is too weak (with a coupling constant λ ≲ 0.5) to account for the high Tc, albeit interesting many-electron correlation effects exist. While Coulomb interactions (via GW self-energy and Hubbard U) enhance the e-ph coupling strength, electron doping (oxygen vacancies) introduces no major changes. Additionally, different structural phases display varying characteristics near the Fermi level, but do not alter the conclusion. The e-ph coupling landscape of La3Ni2O7 is intrinsically different from that of infinite-layer nickelates. These findings suggest that a phonon-mediated mechanism is unlikely to be responsible for the observed superconductivity in La3Ni2O7, pointing instead to an unconventional nature.

Research Organization:
Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
National Science Foundation (NSF); Singapore National Research Foundation; USDOE; USDOE Office of Science (SC), Basic Energy Sciences (BES), Materials Sciences & Engineering Division; USDOE Office of Science (SC), Basic Energy Sciences (BES). Scientific User Facilities (SUF)
Grant/Contract Number:
AC02-05CH11231; AC05-00OR22725
OSTI ID:
2496794
Journal Information:
npj Computational Materials, Journal Name: npj Computational Materials Journal Issue: 1 Vol. 11; ISSN 2057-3960
Publisher:
Nature Publishing GroupCopyright Statement
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English

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