Year: 2025
Type: article
Abstract: Polarons can significantly affect the electrical properties of materials. However, the electrostatic interactions between electrons and ions within polarons create complex charge correlations in quantum many-body systems, posing critical challenges for understanding and controlling polaron formation. Here, we introduce a straightforward yet effective descriptor for polaron formation based on Coulomb's law, which quantifies the proportion of the density of states associated with orbitals exhibiting strong electrostatic coupling at the band edge. Compared to conventional approaches that rely on electron-phonon coupling strength, our method offers key advantages by considering atom-electron-scale details and maintaining straightforward efficiency. Significantly, it links the atomic configurations to the control of polaron formation, potentially aiding experimental efforts in material design based on atomic-level details. The generality and validity of this approach are demonstrated through the analysis of a variety of metal oxides.
Source: Newton
Authors: Chunyang Zhang, Yitao Si, Wenjia Gu, Dengwei Jing, Lili Zhang, Shidong Zhao, Liejin Guo, Maochang Liu
Institutions: Xi'an Jiaotong University, Zhengzhou University
Language: English
Subfield: Condensed Matter Physics
Field: Physics and Astronomy
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: hybrid
Estimated APC paid: $5,460
Funders: National Natural Science Foundation of China, Government of Jiangsu Province, Natural Science Foundation of Jiangsu Province, Southeast University, National Key Research and Development Program of China, Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities, Key Research and Development Projects of Shaanxi Province, Science and Technology Program of Suzhou
OpenAlex ID: W4410628686