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Cited by 91Cold Atom Physics and Bose-Einstein CondensatesPhysics of Superconductivity and MagnetismQuantum many-body systems

Magnetically mediated hole pairing in fermionic ladders of ultracold atoms

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Hirthe, Sarah, Chalopin, Thomas, Bourgund, Dominik, Bojović, Petar, Bohrdt, Annabelle, Demler, Eugene, Grusdt, Fabian, Bloch, Immanuel +1 more·2023·Nature
DOI 10.1038/s41586-022-05437-yPMC PMC9849138
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Abstract

Conventional superconductivity emerges from pairing of charge carriers—electrons or holes—mediated by phonons 1 . In many unconventional superconductors, the pairing mechanism is conjectured to be mediated by magnetic correlations 2 , as captured by models of mobile charges in doped antiferromagnets 3 . However, a precise understanding of the underlying mechanism in real materials is still lacking and has been driving experimental and theoretical research for the past 40 years. Early theoretical studies predicted magnetic-mediated pairing of dopants in ladder systems 4–8 , in which idealized theoretical toy models explained how pairing can emerge despite repulsive interactions 9 . Here we experimentally observe this long-standing theoretical prediction, reporting hole pairing due to magnetic correlations in a quantum gas of ultracold atoms. By engineering doped antiferromagnetic ladders with mixed-dimensional couplings 10 , we suppress Pauli blocking of holes at short length scales. This results in a marked increase in binding energy and decrease in pair size, enabling us to observe pairs of holes predominantly occupying the same rung of the ladder. We find a hole–hole binding energy of the order of the superexchange energy and, upon increased doping, we observe spatial structures in the pair distribution, indicating repulsion between bound hole pairs. By engineering a configuration in which binding is strongly enhanced, we delineate a strategy to increase the critical temperature for superconductivity.

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  • Analogue quantum simulation with ultra-cold neutral atoms has been performed in research labs for many years and is being used for various applications ranging from statistical physics and material science to high-energy physics and astrophysics.

    “Analogue quantum simulation with ultra-cold neutral atoms has been performed in research labs since many years and is being used for various applications ranging from statistical physics [78] and material science, such as the investigation of high-temperature superconductors [79][80][81][82][83][84], or simulation of spin systems [85][86][87][88][89] to high-energy physics and astrophysics [90][91”

    From Neutral atom quantum computing hardware: performance and end-user perspective (2023) · cites this paper as [84]

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References 57 · Cited by 91

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Authors
Hirthe, S., Chalopin, T., Bourgund, D., Bojović, P., Bohrdt, A., Demler, E., Grusdt, F., Bloch, I., & Hilker, T. A.
Affiliations
  • Max Planck Institute of Quantum Optics (DE)
  • Harvard University (US)
  • ETH Zurich (CH)
  • Munich Center for Quantum Science and Technology (DE)
Corresponding author
Hirthe, Sarah
ORCID
Venue
Nature
Publisher
Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Published
2023-01-18
Volume
613
Issue
7944
Pages
463-467
ISSN
  • 0028-0836 (ISSN-L)
  • 1476-4687
DOI
10.1038/s41586-022-05437-y
PMC
PMC9849138
OpenAlex
W4221154123
Cited by
91
References
57
Citations by year
2026: 16 · 2025: 21 · 2024: 37 · 2023: 15 · 2022: 2
FWCI
10.33
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Licence
Locations
  • Nature (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • Strathprints: The University of Strathclyde institutional repository (University of Strathclyde) (acceptedVersion, other-oa)
  • arXiv (Cornell University) (submittedVersion)
  • Repository for Publications and Research Data (ETH Zurich) (submittedVersion, cc-by)
  • RePEc: Research Papers in Economics (submittedVersion)
  • arXiv (Cornell University)
  • ETH Zürich Research Collection
Funders
  • National Science Foundation (EXC- 2111-390814868)
  • Smithsonian Institution
  • Harvard University
  • European Commission (HORIZON2020, 817482)
  • Bundesministerium für Bildung und Forschung (13N15890)
  • Max-Planck-Gesellschaft (817482)
  • Institute for Theoretical Atomic, Molecular and Optical Physics, Harvard University
  • U.S. Air Force (FA95501610323)
  • Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory
  • Multidisciplinary University Research Initiative (FA9550-16-1-0323)
  • Air Force Office of Scientific Research (FA95501610323, W911NF-20-1-0163)
  • Army Research Office (W911NF, W911NF20-1-0163)
  • H2020 European Research Council (948141)
Topics
  • Physical Sciences › Physics and Astronomy › Atomic and Molecular Physics, and Optics › Cold Atom Physics and Bose-Einstein Condensates
  • Physical Sciences › Physics and Astronomy › Condensed Matter Physics › Physics of Superconductivity and Magnetism
  • Physical Sciences › Physics and Astronomy › Atomic and Molecular Physics, and Optics › Quantum many-body systems
Keywords
hole pairing, ultracold atoms, doped antiferromagnets, unconventional superconductivity, Pauli blocking, superexchange, hole binding energy, critical temperature, repulsive interactions

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