Inhomogeneities on various length scales suggesting phase separation seem to be a generic feature of hole-doped high-temperature superconducting cuprates. Also firmly established is the d-wave symmetry of the superconducting state. The interplay of superconductivity and phase separation has been noted in previous mean-field studies of correlated electron models. To further explore this issue in a more rigorous approach we have conducted quantum Monte Carlo calculations of a two-dimensional Hubbard model with nearest-neighbor attractive interaction. For a vanishing on-site repulsion, the result agrees with that of Micnas, Ranninger, and Robaszkiewicz [Phys. Rev. B 39, 11 653 (1989)], and indicates that for a given strength of the attractive interaction, homogeneous d-wave superconducting phase can exist only above a critical doping concentration, below which phase separation occurs. A finite on-site repulsion modifies the phase separation behavior. A stronger d-wave pairing correlation is seen in the inhomogeneous phase compared to the homogeneous phase.
To understand the interplay of d-wave superconductivity and antiferromagnetism, we consider a two-dimensional extended Hubbard model with nearest neighbor attractive interaction. The Hamiltonian is solved in the mean field approximation on a finite lattice. In the impurity-free case, the minimum energy solutions show phase separation as predicted previously based on free energy argument. The phase separation tendency implies that the system can be easily rendered inhomogeneous by a small external perturbation. Explicit solutions of a model including weak impurity potentials are indeed inhomogeneous in the spin-density-wave and d-wave pairing order parameters. Relevance of the results to the inhomogeneous cuprate superconductors is discussed.
Our previous mean-field study concerning superconducting pairings in the extended Hubbard model with on-site repulsive and intersite attractive interaction and arbitrary electron density is extended to include the effects of nearest-neighbor exchange (
J) and correlated hopping (
K) interaction. Detailed numerical analysis of
s-,
p-, and
d-wave pairing solutions is performed for the two-dimensional square lattice with nearest- (
t) and next-nearest- (
t2) neighbor hopping, and the resulting mutual stability phase diagrams are given as a function of band filling and the interaction parameters. Antiferromagnetic exchange can enhance both the
d-wave and the extended
s-wave pairing. If it prevails over the repulsive intersite density-density interaction, such a term can be a leading mechanism for superconductivity. However, its effects strongly depend on the band filling and the
tt2 ratio, giving in particular for
t2=0 s-wave (
d-wave) pairing as most favorable in the low (high) density limit, but increasing
t2 can even reverse this tendency. The correlated hopping term which breaks the electron-hole symmetry affects
s-wave pairing mostly. A condensation transition (phase separation), possible in the presence of the attractive density-density interaction, is also analyzed within the random-phase approximation, and stability conditions of such an electron droplet phase with respect to other types of ordering are determined as a function of the band filling for the two-dimensional square lattice.
We study
s-wave superconductivity in the two-dimensional square-lattice attractive Hubbard Hamiltonian for various inhomogeneous patterns of interacting sites. Using the Bogoliubov--de Gennes mean-field approximation, we obtain the phase diagram for inhomogeneous patterns in which the on-site attractive interaction
Ui between the electrons takes on two values
Ui=0 and $\ensuremath{-}U∕(1\ensuremath{-}f)$ (with
f the concentration of noninteracting sites) as a function of average electron occupation per site,
n, and study the evolution of the phase diagram as
f varies. In certain regions of the phase diagram, inhomogeneity results in a larger zero-temperature average pairing amplitude (order parameter) and also a higher superconducting critical temperature
Tc, relative to a uniform system with the same mean interaction strength (${U}_{i}=\ensuremath{-}U$ on all sites). These effects are observed for stripes, checkerboard, and even random patterns of the attractive centers, suggesting that the pattern of inhomogeneity is unimportant. The phase diagrams also include regions where superconductivity is obliterated due to the formation of various charge-ordered phases. The enhancement of
Tc due to inhomogeneity is robust as long as the electron doping per site,
n, is less than twice the fraction of interacting sites $[2(1\ensuremath{-}f)]$ regardless of the pattern. We also show that for certain inhomogeneous patterns, when $n=2(1\ensuremath{-}f)$, increasing temperature can work against the stability of existing charge-ordered phases for large
f and, as a result, enhance
Tc.
Abstract D -wave superconductivity in high- T c cuprates is believed to be strongly intertwined with stripe order. In this work, using the constrained-path quantum Monte Carlo method, we study the superconducting behavior of a dimer-embedded extended Hubbard model with on-site repulsion U and nearest-neighbor attractive interaction V . Our results show that when the hopping between the dimer and its surroundings is small and U is less than induces a significant enhancement of d -wave superconductivity, mainly contributed by partially filled stripes consisting of one-dimensionally arranged dimers. This work provides a new platform for a deeper understanding of the interplay between d -wave superconductivity and stripe order in high- T c cuprates.
Recent experimental results of angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy suggested that an additional strong nearest neighbor attraction in the Hubbard model might be significant for the doped cuprates. The stripe-ordered patterns, which are formed by the inhomogeneous distribution of spin, charge, and pairing correlations in
CuO2 planes, are a well-known feature of the doped cuprates. By employing constrained path quantum Monte Carlo, we examine the effect of the nearest neighbor attraction on a two-dimensional repulsive Hubbard model. Within and across the stripe regions, the ground-state spin correlations and the
d-wave pairing correlation are calculated. We found that the spin-spin correlation is the largest when the interstripe region is nearly half filled, and we also found the
d-wave superconducting correlation of the neighboring sites is enhanced in the presence of the stripe pattern. This reveals the crucial effects of the strong nearest neighbor attraction on superconductivity in doped cuprates.