SPECIAL TOPIC — Superconductivity in nickel oxides

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    Theoretical investigation of potential superconductivity in Sr-doped La3Ni2O7 at ambient pressure
    Lei Shi(石磊), Ying Luo(罗颖), Wei Wu(吴为), and Yunwei Zhang(张云蔚)
    Chin. Phys. B, 2025, 34 (7): 077403.   DOI: 10.1088/1674-1056/add1bd
    Abstract139)   HTML0)    PDF (2279KB)(126)      
    The recent discovery of pressure-induced superconductivity in La$_{3}$Ni$_{2}$O$_{7}$ has established a novel platform for studying unconventional superconductors. However, achieving superconductivity in this system currently requires relatively high pressures. In this study, we propose a chemical pressure strategy via Sr substitution to stabilize high-$T_{\rm c}$ superconductivity in La$_{3}$Ni$_{2}$O$_{7}$ under ambient conditions. Using density functional theory (DFT) calculations, we systematically investigate the structural and electronic properties of Sr-doped La$_{3-x}$Sr$_{x}$Ni$_{2}$O$_{7}$ ($x= 0.25$, 0.5, 1) at ambient pressure and identify two dynamically stable phases: La$_{2.5}$Sr$_{0.5}$Ni$_{2}$O$_{7}$ and La$_{2}$SrNi$_{2}$O$_{7}$. Our calculations reveal that both phases exhibit metallization of the $\sigma $-bonding bands dominated by Ni-d$_{z^2}$ orbitals - a key feature associated with high-$T_{\rm c} $ superconductivity, as reported in the high-pressure phase of La$_{3}$Ni$_{2}$O$_{7}$. Further analysis using tight-binding models shows that the key hopping parameters in La$_{2.5}$Sr$_{0.5}$Ni$_{2}$O$_{7}$ and La$_{2}$SrNi$_{2}$O$_{7}$ closely resemble those of La$_{3}$Ni$_{2}$O$_{7}$ under high pressure, indicating that strong super-exchange interactions between interlayer Ni-$d_{z^2}$ orbitals are preserved. These findings suggest that the doped phases may provide a promising platform for exploring superconductivity, which requires further experimental validation.
    Electronic structure and disorder effect of La3Ni2O7 superconductor
    Yuxin Wang(王郁欣), Yi Zhang(张燚), and Kun Jiang(蒋坤)
    Chin. Phys. B, 2025, 34 (4): 047105.   DOI: 10.1088/1674-1056/adbacc
    Abstract233)   HTML0)    PDF (991KB)(449)      
    Determining the electronic structure of La$_3$Ni$_2$O$_7$ is an essential step towards uncovering its superconducting mechanism. It is widely believed that the bilayer apical oxygens play an important role in the bilayer La$_3$Ni$_2$O$_7$ electronic structure. Applying the hybrid exchange-correlation functionals, we obtain a more accurate electronic structure of La$_3$Ni$_2$O$_7$ at its high-pressure phase, where the bonding $\mathrm{d}_{z^2}$ band is below the Fermi level owing to the apical oxygen. The symmetry properties of this electronic structure and its corresponding tight-binding model are further analyzed. We find that the antisymmetric part is highly entangled, leading to a minimal nearly degenerate two-orbital model. Then, the apical oxygen vacancies effect is studied using the dynamical cluster approximation. This disorder effect strongly destroys the antisymmetric $\beta$ Fermi surface, leading to the possible disappearance of superconductivity.