Abstract
Coupling between electrons and phonons (lattice vibrations) drives the formation of the electron pairs responsible for conventional superconductivity1. The lack of direct evidence for electron–phonon coupling in the electron dynamics of the high-transition-temperature superconductors has driven an intensive search for an alternative mechanism. A coupling of an electron with a phonon would result in an abrupt change of its velocity and scattering rate near the phonon energy. Here we use angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy to probe electron dynamics—velocity and scattering rate—for three different families of copper oxide superconductors. We see in all of these materials an abrupt change of electron velocity at 50–80 meV, which we cannot explain by any known process other than to invoke coupling with the phonons associated with the movement of the oxygen atoms. This suggests that electron–phonon coupling strongly influences the electron dynamics in the high-temperature superconductors, and must therefore be included in any microscopic theory of superconductivity.
This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution
Relevant articles
Open Access articles citing this article.
-
Possible strain-induced enhancement of the superconducting onset transition temperature in infinite-layer nickelates
Communications Physics Open Access 27 November 2023
-
A hybrid quantum-classical method for electron-phonon systems
Communications Physics Open Access 28 August 2023
-
Plasmarons in high-temperature cuprate superconductors
Communications Physics Open Access 08 July 2023
Access options
Subscribe to this journal
Receive 51 print issues and online access
$199.00 per year
only $3.90 per issue
Rent or buy this article
Prices vary by article type
from$1.95
to$39.95
Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout
References
Bardeen, J., Cooper, L. N. & Schrieffer, J. R. Theory of superconductivity. Phys. Rev. 108, 1175–1204 (1957).
Bogdanov, P. V. et al. Evidence for an energy scale for quasiparticle dispersion in Bi2Sr2CaCu2O8. Phys. Rev. Lett. 85, 2581–2584 (2000).
Kaminski, A. et al. Renormalization of spectral lineshape and dispersion below Tc in Bi2Sr2CaCu2O8+δ. Preprint cond-mat/0004482 at 〈http://xxx.lanl.gov〉 (2000).
Valla, T. et al. Evidence for quantum critical behavior in the optimally doped cuprate Bi2Sr2CaCu2O8+δ. Science 285, 2110–2113 (1999).
Zhou, X. J. et al. Dual nature of the electronic structure of the stripe phase. Phys. Rev. Lett. 86, 5578–5581 (2001).
Eschrig, M. & Norman, M. R. Neutron resonance: modeling photoemission and tunneling data in the superconducting state of Bi2Sr2CaCu2O8+δ. Phys. Rev. Lett. 85, 3261–3264 (2000).
He, H. et al. Resonant spin excitation in an overdoped high temperature superconductor. Preprint cond-mat/0002013 at 〈http://xxx.lanl.gov〉 (2000).
McQueeney, R. J. et al. Anomalous dispersion of LO phonons in La1.85Sr0.15CuO4 at low temperatures. Phys. Rev. Lett. 82, 628–631 (1999).
Petrov, Y. et al. Phonon signature of charge inhomogeneity in high temperature superconductors YBa2Cu3O6+x. Preprint cond-mat/0003414 at 〈http://xxx.lanl.gov〉 (2000).
Bianconi, A. et al. Determination of local lattice distortions in the CuO2 plane of La1.85Sr0.15CuO4. Phys. Rev. Lett. 76, 3412–3415 (1996).
Hengsberger, M., Purdie, D., Segovia, P., Garnier, M. & Baer, Y. Photoemission study of a strongly coupled electron-phonon system. Phys. Rev. Lett. 83, 592–595 (1999).
Lashell, S., Jensen, E. & Balasubramanian, T. Nonquasiparticle structure in the photoemission spectra from the Be(0001) surface and determination of the electron self energy. Phys. Rev. B 61, 2371–2374 (2000).
Scalapino, D. J. in Superconductivity (ed. Parks, R. D.) 449 (Marcel Dekker, New York, 1969)
Puchkov, A. V., Basov, D. N. & Timusk, T. The pseudogap state in high Tc superconductors: An infrared study. J. Phys. Condens. Matter 8, 10049–10082 (1996).
Feng, D. L. et al. Bilayer splitting in the electronic structure of heavily overdoped Bi2Sr2CaCu2O8+δ. Phys. Rev. Lett. 86, 5550–5553 (2001).
Chuang, Y.-D. et al. Doubling of the bands in overdoped Bi2Sr2CaCu2O8+δ–probable evidence for c-axis bilayer coupling. Preprint cond-mat/0102386 at 〈http://xxx.lanl.gov〉 (2000).
Campuzano, J. C. et al. Electronic spectra and their relation to the (π, π) collective mode in high-T c superconductors. Phys. Rev. Lett. 83, 3709–3712 (1999).
Varma, C. M., Littlewood, P. B., Schmitt–Rink, S., Abrahams, E. & Ruckenstein, A. E. Phenomenology of the normal state of Cu-O high-temperature superconductors. Phys. Rev. Lett. 63, 1996–1999 (1989).
Johnson, P. D. et al. On the doping and temperature dependence of the mass enhancement observed in the cuprate Bi2212. Preprint cond-mat/0102260 at 〈http://xxx.lanl.gov〉 (2001).
Fong, H. F. et al. Polarized and unpolarized neutron scattering study of the dynamic spin susceptibility in YBa2Cu3O7. Phys. Rev. B 54, 6708–6720 (1996).
Carbotte, J. P. et al. Coupling strength of charge carriers to spin fluctuations in high-temperature superconductors. Nature 401, 354–356 (1996).
Takagi, H. et al. Systematic evolution of temperature-dependent resistivity in La2-xSrxCuO4. Phys. Rev. Lett. 69, 2975–2978 (1992).
Allen, P. B. Anomalous versus conventional low energy properties of cuprate superconductors. Comments Condens. Matter Phys. 15, 327–353 (1992).
Gunnarsson, O. Superconductivity in fullerides. Rev. Mod. Phys. 69, 575–606 (1997).
Batlogg, B. et al. Normal-state phase-diagram of (La, Sr)2CuO4 from charge and spin dynamics. Physica C 235, 130–133 (1994).
Kulic, M. L. Interplay of electron-phonon interaction and strong correlations: the possible way to high-temperature superconductivity. Phys. Rep. 338, 1–264 (2000).
Renner, C. H. et al. Pseudogap precursor of the superconducting gap in under- and overdoped Bi2Sr2CaCu2O8. Phys. Rev. Lett. 80, 149–152 (1998); Observation of the low temperature pseudogap in the vortex core of Bi2Sr2CaCu2O8. Phys. Rev. Lett. 80, 3606–3609 (1998).
Cren, T. et al. Influence of disorder on the local density of states in high-Tc superconducting thin films. Phys. Rev. Lett. 84, 147–150 (2000).
De Wilde, Y. et al. Unusual strong-effects in the tunneling spectroscopy of optimally doped and overdoped Bi2Sr2CaCu2O8. Phys. Rev. Lett. 80, 153–156 (1998).
Acknowledgements
We thank N. Nagaosa, D. J. Scalapino, R. Laughlin, D.-H. Lee, S. Kivelson, D. Bonn, K. A. Muller, P. Allen, N. P. Armitage, A. Damascelli and F. Ronning for discussions. The work at ALS and SSRL was supported by the Department of Energy's Office of Basic Energy Science, Division of Materials Science. The Stanford work was also supported by the NSF. A.L. thanks the Instituto Nazionale Fisica della Materia (INFM) and the University of Rome “La Sapienza” for support.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Lanzara, A., Bogdanov, P., Zhou, X. et al. Evidence for ubiquitous strong electron–phonon coupling in high-temperature superconductors. Nature 412, 510–514 (2001). https://doi.org/10.1038/35087518
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/35087518
This article is cited by
-
Traces of electron-phonon coupling in one-dimensional cuprates
Nature Communications (2023)
-
Testing electron–phonon coupling for the superconductivity in kagome metal CsV3Sb5
Nature Communications (2023)
-
Unidirectional electron–phonon coupling in the nematic state of a kagome superconductor
Nature Physics (2023)
-
Nodeless electron pairing in CsV3Sb5-derived kagome superconductors
Nature (2023)
-
Absence of a BCS-BEC crossover in the cuprate superconductors
npj Quantum Materials (2023)
Comments
By submitting a comment you agree to abide by our Terms and Community Guidelines. If you find something abusive or that does not comply with our terms or guidelines please flag it as inappropriate.
