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    Determination of crystal structure and charge order state in Ba2CuO3+δ via deep-potential molecular dynamics

    Jiasheng Wang1, Xiaochao Wang1, Chao Deng1, Ruizhe Zhang1, Tianyi Huang1, Yongqiang Wang1,*, Ri He2,3,†, and Liang Si1,4,5,‡

    • *Contact author: yqwang@nwu.edu.cn
    • †Contact author: heri@nimte.ac.cn
    • ‡Contact author: siliang@nwu.edu.cn

    Phys. Rev. B 113, 174531 – Published 26 May, 2026

    DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/qttb-r2gl

    Abstract

    Ba2CuO3+δ (δ∼0.2) has recently attracted considerable interest as an unconventional cuprate superconductor, yet its precise crystal structure remains theoretically under debate, primarily because its primitive cell may contain hundreds of atoms, which exceeds the size limits of density functional theory (DFT). To address this issue, we combine DFT with Deep-Potential molecular dynamics (DPMD) to explore a wide range of oxygen-deficient configurations. First, we construct a comprehensive training set for δ=0.0−1.0, to train the accurate interatomic potential, and perform large-scale DPMD simulations for Ba2CuO3+δ. Both DFT and DPMD phonon calculations reveal that the previously reported high-symmetry phase of Ba2CuO3 hosts soft phonon induced by planar oxygen vibrations leads to a charge ordered phase with alternating long and short Cu-O bonds. This bond disproportionation corresponds to mixed Cu valence states of Cu+ (3d10) and Cu3+ (3d8). Moreover, for Ba2CuO3.2, DPMD calculations indicate that the ground state adopts a one-dimensional Cu-O chain structure, and total energy and phonon analyses identify several dynamically metastable structures, which complicates the experimental fabrication of superconducting samples. Finally, DPMD simulations demonstrate that external pressure does not alter the ground state of the one-dimensional chain even at 20 GPa. These results provide a robust theoretical foundation for determining the correct crystal structure of Ba2CuO3+δ and indicate that its electronic ground state fundamentally deviates from that of CuO2 planes in two-dimensional cuprates. The superconducting pairing mechanism in this system may lie beyond standard electron-phonon coupling or doped Hubbard model.

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