Atomic-scale observation of localized phonons at FeSe/SrTiO3 interface

• Published in: Nature communications Vol. 15; no. 1; p. 3418
• Main Authors: Shi, Ruochen, Li, Qize, Xu, Xiaofeng, Han, Bo, Zhu, Ruixue, Liu, Fachen, Qi, Ruishi, Zhang, Xiaowen, Du, Jinlong, Chen, Ji, Yu, Dapeng, Zhu, Xuetao, Guo, Jiandong, Gao, Peng
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: London Nature Publishing Group UK 23.04.2024; Nature Publishing Group; Nature Portfolio
• Subjects: 147/137; 639/301/930/328/2082; 639/766/119/1003; 639/766/119/544; Atomic structure; Coupling; Electron energy loss spectroscopy; Electron microscopes; Energy loss; Humanities and Social Sciences; multidisciplinary; Phonons; Science; Science (multidisciplinary); Spectroscopy; Spectrum analysis; Strontium titanates; Superconductivity; Transition temperature; Transition temperatures; Unit cell
• ISSN: 2041-1723; 2041-1723
• DOI: 10.1038/s41467-024-47688-5

In single unit-cell FeSe grown on SrTiO 3 , the superconductivity transition temperature features a significant enhancement. Local phonon modes at the interface associated with electron-phonon coupling may play an important role in the interface-induced enhancement. However, such phonon modes have eluded direct experimental observations. The complicated atomic structure of the interface brings challenges to obtain the accurate structure-phonon relation knowledge. Here, we achieve direct characterizations of atomic structure and phonon modes at the FeSe/SrTiO 3 interface with atomically resolved imaging and electron energy loss spectroscopy in an electron microscope. We find several phonon modes highly localized (~1.3 nm) at the unique double layer Ti-O terminated interface, one of which (~ 83 meV) engages in strong interactions with the electrons in FeSe based on ab initio calculations. This finding of the localized interfacial phonon associated with strong electron-phonon coupling provides new insights into understanding the origin of superconductivity enhancement at the FeSe/SrTiO 3 interface. The authors characterize the phonon modes at the FeSe/SrTiO 3 interface with atomically resolved electron energy loss spectroscopy and correlate them with accurate atomic structure in an electron microscope. They find several phonon modes highly localized at the interface, one of which engages in strong interactions with the electrons in FeSe.