Local inversion-symmetry breaking in a bismuthate high-Tc superconductor

S. Griffitt, M. Spaić, J. Joe, Z. W. Anderson, D. Zhai, M. J. Krogstad, R. Osborn, D. Pelc () and M. Greven ()
Additional contact information
S. Griffitt: University of Minnesota
M. Spaić: University of Zagreb
J. Joe: University of Minnesota
Z. W. Anderson: University of Minnesota
D. Zhai: University of Minnesota
M. J. Krogstad: Argonne National Laboratory
R. Osborn: Argonne National Laboratory
D. Pelc: University of Minnesota
M. Greven: University of Minnesota

Nature Communications, 2023, vol. 14, issue 1, 1-9

Abstract: Abstract The doped perovskite BaBiO3 exhibits a maximum superconducting transition temperature (Tc) of 34 K and was the first high-Tc oxide to be discovered, yet pivotal questions regarding the nature of both the metallic and superconducting states remain unresolved. Although it is generally thought that superconductivity in the bismuthates is of the conventional s-wave type, the pairing mechanism is still debated, with strong electron-phonon coupling and bismuth valence or bond disproportionation possibly playing a role. Here we use diffuse x-ray scattering and Monte Carlo modeling to study the local structure of Ba1-xKxBiO3 across its insulator-metal boundary. We find no evidence for either long- or short-range disproportionation, which resolves a major conundrum, as disproportionation and the related polaronic effects are likely not relevant for the metallic and superconducting states. Instead, we uncover nanoscale structural correlations that break inversion symmetry, with far-reaching implications for the electronic physics. This unexpected finding furthermore establishes that the bismuthates belong to the broader classes of materials with hidden spin-orbit coupling and a tendency towards inversion-breaking displacements.

Date: 2023
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-023-36348-9 Abstract (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:nat:natcom:v:14:y:2023:i:1:d:10.1038_s41467-023-36348-9

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
https://www.nature.com/ncomms/

DOI: 10.1038/s41467-023-36348-9

Access Statistics for this article

Nature Communications is currently edited by Nathalie Le Bot, Enda Bergin and Fiona Gillespie

More articles in Nature Communications from Nature
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Sonal Shukla () and Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing ().