Topotactical Hydrogen Induced Single-Band $d$-wave Superconductivity in La$_2$NiO$_4$

Fuente: arXiv
Enregistré dans:
Détails bibliographiques
Auteurs principaux: Gao, Ying, Wu, Wenfeng, Liu, Zhaoxin, Held, Karsten, Si, Liang
Format: Preprint
Publié: 2025
Sujets:
Accès en ligne:
Tags: Ajouter un tag
Pas de tags, Soyez le premier à ajouter un tag!
_version_ 1866912503606280192
author Gao, Ying
Wu, Wenfeng
Liu, Zhaoxin
Held, Karsten
Si, Liang
author_facet Gao, Ying
Wu, Wenfeng
Liu, Zhaoxin
Held, Karsten
Si, Liang
contents La$_2$NiO$_4$ is an antiferromagnetic insulator with a structural resemblance to its cuprate counterpart, La$_2$CuO$_4$. However, La$_2$CuO$_4$ has a Cu$^{2+}$ or 3$d^9$ electronic configuration that needs to be hole or electron doped for superconductivity, whereas La$_2$NiO$_4$ is 3$d^8$ with divalent Ni$^{2+}$. Making a cuprate analog through conventional electron doping is impractical due to the rarity of tetravalent substituents for trivalent La. Here, we propose an alternative route: intercalating topotactical hydrogen, which is possible through electric-field-controlled protonation and transforms La$_2$NiO$_4$ into a 3$d_{x^2-y^2}$ single-band two-dimensional antiferromagnetic Mott insulator analogous to La$_2$CuO$_4$. This we find through density-functional theory and dynamical mean-field theory calculations. The furthergoing dynamical vertex approximation predicts that H-La$_2$NiO$_4$ can host $d$-wave superconductivity under 15\% hole doping with a critical temperature above 20\,K. Our findings not only suggest a new method for tuning the electronic structure of layered nickelates but also provide theoretical evidence for a new nickelate superconductor, awaiting experimental synthesis.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2504_21426
institution arXiv
publishDate 2025
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Topotactical Hydrogen Induced Single-Band $d$-wave Superconductivity in La$_2$NiO$_4$
Gao, Ying
Wu, Wenfeng
Liu, Zhaoxin
Held, Karsten
Si, Liang
Superconductivity
Materials Science
Strongly Correlated Electrons
La$_2$NiO$_4$ is an antiferromagnetic insulator with a structural resemblance to its cuprate counterpart, La$_2$CuO$_4$. However, La$_2$CuO$_4$ has a Cu$^{2+}$ or 3$d^9$ electronic configuration that needs to be hole or electron doped for superconductivity, whereas La$_2$NiO$_4$ is 3$d^8$ with divalent Ni$^{2+}$. Making a cuprate analog through conventional electron doping is impractical due to the rarity of tetravalent substituents for trivalent La. Here, we propose an alternative route: intercalating topotactical hydrogen, which is possible through electric-field-controlled protonation and transforms La$_2$NiO$_4$ into a 3$d_{x^2-y^2}$ single-band two-dimensional antiferromagnetic Mott insulator analogous to La$_2$CuO$_4$. This we find through density-functional theory and dynamical mean-field theory calculations. The furthergoing dynamical vertex approximation predicts that H-La$_2$NiO$_4$ can host $d$-wave superconductivity under 15\% hole doping with a critical temperature above 20\,K. Our findings not only suggest a new method for tuning the electronic structure of layered nickelates but also provide theoretical evidence for a new nickelate superconductor, awaiting experimental synthesis.
title Topotactical Hydrogen Induced Single-Band $d$-wave Superconductivity in La$_2$NiO$_4$
topic Superconductivity
Materials Science
Strongly Correlated Electrons
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2504.21426