Origin of electron-hole asymmetry in the scanning tunneling spectrum of Bi₂Sr₂CaCu₂O_(8+δ)

We have developed a material specific theoretical framework for modelling scanning tunneling spectroscopy (STS) of high temperature superconducting materials in the normal as well as the superconducting state. Results for $Bi_2Sr_2CaCu_2O_{8+\delta}$ (Bi2212) show clearly that the tunneling process strongly modifies the STS spectrum from the local density of states (LDOS) of the $d_{x^2-y^2}$ orbital of Cu. The dominant tunneling channel to the surface Bi involves the $d_{x^2-y^2}$ orbitals of the four neighbouring Cu atoms. In accord with experimental observations, the computed spectrum displays a remarkable asymmetry between the processes of electron injection and extraction, which arises from contributions of Cu $d_{z^2}$ and other orbitals to the tunneling current.