Checkerboard-type Zhang-Rice states in overdoped cuprate superconductors.
12 affiliations
- 1Shanghai Key Laboratory of High Temperature Superconductors, Center for Quantum Science and Technology, Department of Physics, Shanghai University, Shanghai, China.
- 2Information Materials and Intelligent Sensing Laboratory of Anhui Province, Institutes of Physical Science and Information Technology, Anhui University, Hefei, China.
- 3School of Physical Science and Technology, Soochow University, Suzhou, China.
- 4School of Electronic Science & Engineering, Southeast University, Nanjing, China.
- 5Department of Physics, Faculty of Science, National University of Singapore, Singapore, Republic of Singapore.
- 6Department of Materials Science and Engineering, National University of Singapore, Singapore, Republic of Singapore.
- 7Singapore Synchrotron Light Source (SSLS), National University of Singapore, 5 Research Link, Singapore, Republic of Singapore.
- 8Singapore Synchrotron Light Source (SSLS), National University of Singapore, 5 Research Link, Singapore, Republic of Singapore. [email protected].
- 9Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada. [email protected].
- 10School of Physical Science and Technology, Soochow University, Suzhou, China. [email protected].
- 11Institute for Quantum Science, School of Physical Science and Technology, Soochow University, Suzhou, China. [email protected].
- 12Shanghai Key Laboratory of High Temperature Superconductors, Center for Quantum Science and Technology, Department of Physics, Shanghai University, Shanghai, China. [email protected].
Abstract
Cuprate superconductors remain central to condensed matter physics due to their technological relevance and unconventional, incompletely understood electronic behavior. While the canonical phase diagram and low-energy models have been shaped largely by studies of underdoped and moderately doped cuprates, the overdoped regime has received comparatively limited attention. Here, we track the evolution of the electronic structure from optimal to heavy overdoping in La2-xSrxCuO₄ (LSCO) using broadband optical spectroscopy across x = 0.15-0.60. The measured spectral changes-including the redistribution of Zhang-Rice-related spectral weight-are in qualitative agreement with determinant quantum Monte Carlo (DQMC) simulations of the three-orbital Emery model, which together indicate a pronounced reconstruction of the electronic structure beyond hole concentrations x > 0.2. Guided by these observations, we propose a spontaneous checkerboard-type Zhang-Rice electronic configuration that accounts for the coexistence of itinerant and localized carriers characteristic of the heavily overdoped state. Our results refine the doping-dependent Zhang-Rice-based framework for cuprates, illuminate how correlations persist deep into the overdoped regime, and provide new constraints on microscopic mechanisms of high-temperature superconductivity, with broader implications for correlated transition-metal oxides.
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BibTeX
@article{liu2026checkerboardtype,
title = {{Checkerboard-type Zhang-Rice states in overdoped cuprate superconductors.}},
author = {Xiongfang Liu and Kun Han and Yan Peng and Yuanjie Ning and Jing Wu and Zhaoyang Luo and Difan Zhou and Zhigang Zeng and Qian He and Chuanbing Cai and Mark B H Breese and Ariando Ariando and Chi Sin Tang and George A Sawatzky and Mi Jiang and Xinmao Yin},
journal = {Nature communications},
year = {2026},
month = sep,
doi = {10.1038/s41467-026-77985-0},
url = {https://europepmc.org/article/MED/42901930},
note = {CC BY},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Checkerboard-type Zhang-Rice states in overdoped cuprate superconductors.
AU - Xiongfang Liu
AU - Kun Han
AU - Yan Peng
AU - Yuanjie Ning
AU - Jing Wu
AU - Zhaoyang Luo
AU - Difan Zhou
AU - Zhigang Zeng
AU - Qian He
AU - Chuanbing Cai
AU - Mark B H Breese
AU - Ariando Ariando
AU - Chi Sin Tang
AU - George A Sawatzky
AU - Mi Jiang
AU - Xinmao Yin
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/09/19
JO - Nature communications
DO - 10.1038/s41467-026-77985-0
UR - https://europepmc.org/article/MED/42901930
AB - Cuprate superconductors remain central to condensed matter physics due to their technological relevance and unconventional, incompletely understood electronic behavior. While the canonical phase diagram and low-energy models have been shaped largely by studies of underdoped and moderately doped cuprates, the overdoped regime has received comparatively limited attention. Here, we track the evolution of the electronic structure from optimal to heavy overdoping in La2-xSrxCuO₄ (LSCO) using broadband optical spectroscopy across x = 0.15-0.60. The measured spectral changes-including the redistribution of Zhang-Rice-related spectral weight-are in qualitative agreement with determinant quantum Monte Carlo (DQMC) simulations of the three-orbital Emery model, which together indicate a pronounced reconstruction of the electronic structure beyond hole concentrations x > 0.2. Guided by these observations, we propose a spontaneous checkerboard-type Zhang-Rice electronic configuration that accounts for the coexistence of itinerant and localized carriers characteristic of the heavily overdoped state. Our results refine the doping-dependent Zhang-Rice-based framework for cuprates, illuminate how correlations persist deep into the overdoped regime, and provide new constraints on microscopic mechanisms of high-temperature superconductivity, with broader implications for correlated transition-metal oxides.
SN - 2041-1723
ER -