Quantum-interference-driven orbital density wave and high-temperature superconductivity in trilayer nickelates
Abstract
Intertwined charge-density-wave (CDW) and spin-density-wave (SDW) orders are a hallmark of high-temperature superconducting multilayer nickelates. In trilayer La4Ni3O_{10}, charge correlations develop at temperatures above the onset of long-range spin order, and the characteristic ordering wavevectors satisfy Qcdw ≈ 2Qsdw. Here, using a density-wave equation with vertex corrections, we show that quantum interference between short-range SDW fluctuations at q ≈ Qsdw on the outer NiO2 layers generates an inter-outer-layer bond order at Qcdw ≈ 2 Qsdw. This bond order induces a pronounced inner-layer-centered orbital order, with antiphase modulations of the Ni d3z2−r2 and dx2−y2 occupations, producing strong orbital polarization but only weak total charge modulation. This intertwined bond-and-orbital order accounts for the layer-selective electronic reconstruction inferred from NMR/NQR and is consistent with Raman spectroscopy and scanning tunnelling microscopy measurements. The same orbital and spin fluctuations also cooperate to stabilize s±-wave superconductivity through Mz mirror-parity selection rules. Our results provide a unified microscopic framework for intertwined density-wave order and high-Tc superconductivity in multilayer nickelates.
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BibTeX
@misc{yamakawa2026quantuminterferencedriven,
title = {{Quantum-interference-driven orbital density wave and high-temperature superconductivity in trilayer nickelates}},
author = {Youichi Yamakawa and Hiroshi Kontani},
howpublished = {arXiv},
year = {2026},
month = sep,
doi = {10.48550/arxiv.2609.24857},
eprint = {2609.24857},
archivePrefix = {arXiv},
url = {https://arxiv.org/abs/2609.24857},
}
RIS
TY - UNPB
TI - Quantum-interference-driven orbital density wave and high-temperature superconductivity in trilayer nickelates
AU - Youichi Yamakawa
AU - Hiroshi Kontani
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/09/22
PB - arXiv
DO - 10.48550/arxiv.2609.24857
UR - https://arxiv.org/abs/2609.24857
AB - Intertwined charge-density-wave (CDW) and spin-density-wave (SDW) orders are a hallmark of high-temperature superconducting multilayer nickelates. In trilayer La4Ni3O_{10}, charge correlations develop at temperatures above the onset of long-range spin order, and the characteristic ordering wavevectors satisfy Q_cdw ≈ 2Q_sdw. Here, using a density-wave equation with vertex corrections, we show that quantum interference between short-range SDW fluctuations at q ≈ Q_sdw on the outer NiO2 layers generates an inter-outer-layer bond order at Q_cdw ≈ 2 Q_sdw. This bond order induces a pronounced inner-layer-centered orbital order, with antiphase modulations of the Ni d_3z^2−r^2 and d_x^2−y^2 occupations, producing strong orbital polarization but only weak total charge modulation. This intertwined bond-and-orbital order accounts for the layer-selective electronic reconstruction inferred from NMR/NQR and is consistent with Raman spectroscopy and scanning tunnelling microscopy measurements. The same orbital and spin fluctuations also cooperate to stabilize s_±-wave superconductivity through M_z mirror-parity selection rules. Our results provide a unified microscopic framework for intertwined density-wave order and high-Tc superconductivity in multilayer nickelates.
ER -