Molecular Pairing in Twisted Bilayer Graphene Superconductivity
We propose a theory for how the weak phonon-mediated interaction (J_{A}=1-4 meV) wins over the prohibitive Coulomb repulsion (U=30-60 meV) and leads to a superconductor in magic-angle twisted bilayer graphene (MATBG). We find the pairing mechanism akin to that in the A_{3}C_{60} family of molecular superconductors: Each AA stacking region of MATBG resembles a C_{60} molecule, in that optical phonons can dynamically lift the degeneracy of the moiré orbitals, in analogy to the dynamical Jahn-Teller effect. Such induced J_{A} has the form of an intervalley anti-Hund's coupling and is less suppressed than U by the Kondo screening near a Mott insulator. Additionally, we also considered an intraorbital Hund's coupling J_{H} that originates from the on-site repulsion of a carbon atom. Under a reasonable approximation of the realistic model, we prove that the renormalized local interaction between quasiparticles has a pairing (negative) channel in a doped correlated insulator at ν=±(2+δν), albeit the bare interaction is positive definite. The proof is nonperturbative and based on exact asymptotic behaviors of the vertex function imposed by Ward identities. Existence of an optimal U for superconductivity is predicted. In a large area of the parameter space of J_{A}, J_{H}, the ground state is found to have a nematic d-wave singlet pairing, which, however, can lead to a p-wave-like nodal structure due to the Berry's phase on Fermi surfaces (or Euler obstruction).
Authors
- Zhida Song (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4987-5962)
- Geng-Dong Zhou
- Biao Lian (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8956-5619)
- Shiyu Peng (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4314-0359)
- Yijie Wang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9422-0570)
Institutions
- California Institute of Technology (US)
- Princeton University (US)
- Peking University (CN)
- Hefei University (CN)
- Collaborative Innovation Center of Quantum Matter (CN)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Physical Review Letters
- Published
- 2024-09-30
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1103/physrevlett.133.146001
- Citations
- 23
- Primary Topic
- Physics of Superconductivity and Magnetism
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 7.15
Funders
- National Science Foundation
- National Natural Science Foundation of China
- Materials Research Science and Engineering Center, Harvard University
- National Key Research and Development Program of China