Electrostatic interface tuning in correlated superconducting heterostructures

An electrostatic field, which is applied to a gated high-temperature superconducting (HTSC) film, is believed to affect the film similar to charge doping. Analyzing the pairing in terms of a t-J model, we show that a coupling to electric dipoles and phonons at the interface of film and dielectric gate localizes the injected charge and leads to a superconductor-insulator transition. This results in a dramatic modification of the doping-dependent phase diagram close to and above the optimal doping, which is expected to shed light on recent electric-field-effect experiments with HTSC cuprates.