Electron-phonon coupling and its implication for the superconducting topological insulators

Scientific Reports
Xiao-Long Zhang, Wu-Ming Liu

Abstract

The recent observation of superconductivity in doped topological insulators has sparked a flurry of interest due to the prospect of realizing the long-sought topological superconductors. Yet the understanding of underlying pairing mechanism in these systems is far from complete. Here we investigate this problem by providing robust first-principles calculations of the role of electron-phonon coupling for the superconducting pairing in the prime candidate CuxBi2Se3. Our results show that electron-phonon scattering process in this system is dominated by zone center and boundary optical modes, with coexistence of phonon stiffening and softening. While the calculated electron-phonon coupling constant λ suggests that Tc from electron-phonon coupling is 2 orders smaller than the ones reported on bulk inhomogeneous samples, suggesting that superconductivity may not come from pure electron-phonon coupling. We discuss the possible enhancement of superconducting transition temperature by local inhomogeneity introduced by doping.

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Citations

Jul 12, 2016·The Journal of Physical Chemistry Letters·Jue GongTao Xu
Apr 16, 2016·Physical Review Letters·Markus Meinert
Nov 10, 2015·Physical Review Letters·Carla Verdi, Feliciano Giustino
Jul 12, 2018·Inorganic Chemistry·Ashish C Gandhi, Sheng Yun Wu

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