High temperature superconductivity and charge segregation in a model with strong long-range electron-phonon and Coulomb interactions

An analytical method of studying strong long-range electron-phonon and Coulomb interactions in complex lattices is presented. The method is applied to a perovskite layer with anisotropic coupling of holes to the vibrations of apical atoms. Depending on the relative strength of the polaronic shift, Ep, and the inter-site Coulomb repulsion, Vc, the system is either a polaronic Fermi liquid, Vc > 1.23 Ep, a bipolaronic superconductor, 1.16 Ep < Vc < 1.23 Ep, or a charge segregated insulator, Vc < 1.16 Ep. In the superconducting window, the carriers are mobile bipolarons with a remarkably low effective mass. The model describes the key features of the underdoped superconducting cuprates.