Visualizing the Zhang-Rice singlet, molecular orbitals and pair formation in cuprate

Shusen Ye, Jianfa Zhao, Zhiheng Yao +7

The parent compound of cuprates is a charge-transfer-type Mott insulator with strong hybridization between the Cu $3d_{{\mathrm{x}}^2-y^2}$ and O $2p$ orbitals. A key question concern…