Triplet pairing due to spin-orbit-assisted electron-phonon coupling

Abstract

We propose a microscopic mechanism for triplet pairing due to spin-orbit-assisted electron interaction with optical phonons in a crystal with a complex unit cell. Using two examples of electrons with symmetric Fermi surfaces in crystals with either a cubic or a layered square lattice, we show that spin-orbit-assisted electron-phonon coupling can, indeed, generate triplet pairing and that, in each case, it predetermines the tensor structure of a p-wave order parameter.