Electron-Phonon Coupling and its implication for the superconducting topological insulators

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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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Zhang, X. L., & Liu, W. M. (2015). Electron-Phonon Coupling and its implication for the superconducting topological insulators. Scientific Reports, 5. https://doi.org/10.1038/srep08964

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