One of key challenges in high-Tc superconductivity research is to identify a predominant mechanism controlling superconductivity at atomic scale. Using the spectroscopic imaging scanning tunnelling microscopy technique[1] we find a ∼91% sinusoidal variation in local energy gap Δ triggered by the crystal supermodulation revealing a strong non-random out-of-plane effect on superconductivity[2], substitutional isotope effect on the d2I/dV2 spectrum reveals 6% reduction of mode energy Ω indicating the involvement of the lattice vibrations that couple strongly to the quasiparticle states of Bi2Sr2CaCu 2O8+δ [3]. We also find that the heterogeneous electronic states coupling to the lattice only occur above a certain energy which separates the spatially homogeneous and heterogeneous excitations[4]. © 2008 IOP Publishing Ltd.