A step closer to visualizing the electron–phonon interplay in real time

Abstract

The origin of the very high superconducting transition temperature (Tc) in ceramic copper oxide superconductors is one of the greatest mysteries in modern physics. In the superconducting state, electrons form pairs (known as Cooper pairs) and condense into the superfluid state to conduct electric current with zero resistance. For conventional superconductors, it is well established that the 2 electrons in a Cooper pair are “bonded” by lattice vibrations (phonons) (1), whereas in high-Tc superconductors, the “glue” for the Cooper pairs is still under intense discussion. Although the high transition temperature and the unconventional pairing symmetry (d-wave symmetry) have led many researchers to believe that the pairing mechanism results from electron–electron interaction, increasing evidence shows that electron–phonon coupling also significantly influences the low-energy electronic structures (2, 3) and hence may also play an important role in high-Tc superconductivity. In a recent issue of PNAS, Carbone et al. (4) use ultrafast electron diffraction, a recently developed experimental technique (5), to attack this problem from a new angle, the dynamics of the electronic relaxation process involving phonons. Their results provide fresh evidence for the strong interplay between electronic and atomic degrees of freedom in high-Tc superconductivity.