No Arabic abstract
Neutron scattering is used to probe antiferromagnetic spin fluctuations in the d-wave heavy fermion superconductor CeCoIn$_{5}$ (T$_{c}$=2.3 K). Superconductivity develops from a state with slow ($hbarGamma$=0.3 $pm$ 0.15 meV) commensurate (${bf{Q_0}}$=(1/2,1/2,1/2)) antiferromagnetic spin fluctuations and nearly isotropic spin correlations. The characteristic wavevector in CeCoIn$_{5}$ is the same as CeIn$_{3}$ but differs from the incommensurate wavevector measured in antiferromagnetically ordered CeRhIn$_{5}$. A sharp spin resonance ($hbarGamma<0.07$ meV) at $hbar omega$ = 0.60 $pm$ 0.03 meV develops in the superconducting state removing spectral weight from low-energy transfers. The presence of a resonance peak is indicative of strong coupling between f-electron magnetism and superconductivity and consistent with a d-wave gap order parameter satisfying $Delta({bf q+Q_0})=-Delta({bf q})$.
Measurements of the differential conductance spectra of YBa2Cu3O7-SrRuO3 and YBa2Cu3O7-La0.67Ca_0.33MnO3 ramp-type junctions along the node and anti-node directions are reported. The results are consistent with a crossed Andreev reflection effect only in YBa2Cu3O7-SrRuO3 junctions where the domain wall width of SrRuO3 is comparable with the coherence length of YBa2Cu3O7. No such effect was observed in the YBa2Cu3O7-La0.67Ca0.33MnO3 junctions, which is in line with the much larger (x10) domain wall width of La0.67Ca0.33MnO3. We also show that crossed Andreev exists only in the anti-node direction. Furthermore, we find evidence that crossed Andreev in YBa2Cu3O7 junctions is not sensitive to nm-scale interface defects, suggesting that the length scale of the crossed Andreev effect is larger than the coherence length, but still smaller than the La0.67Ca0.33MnO3s domain wall width.
Using small-angle neutron scattering, we have studied the flux-line lattice (FLL) in superconducting CeCoIn5. The FLL is found to undergo a first-order symmetry and reorientation transition at ~0.55 T at 50 mK. The FLL form factor in this material is found to be independent of the applied magnetic field, in striking contrast to the exponential decrease usually observed in superconductors. This result is consistent with a strongly field-dependent coherence length in CeCoIn5, in agreement with recent theoretical predictions for superclean, high-kappa superconductors.
The nature of the pairing state in iron-based superconductors is the subject of much debate. Here we argue that in one material, the stoichiometric iron pnictide KFe2As2, there is overwhelming evidence for a d-wave pairing state, characterized by symmetry-imposed vertical line nodes in the superconducting gap. This evidence is reviewed, with a focus on thermal conductivity and the strong impact of impurity scattering on the critical temperature Tc. We then compare KFe2As2 to Ba0.6K0.4Fe2As2, obtained by Ba substitution, where the pairing symmetry is s-wave and the Tc is ten times higher. The transition from d-wave to s-wave within the same crystal structure provides a rare opportunity to investigate the connection between band structure and pairing mechanism. We also compare KFe2As2 to the nodal iron-based superconductor LaFePO, for which the pairing symmetry is probably not d-wave, but more likely s-wave with accidental line nodes.
We study the low-energy density of states of Dirac fermions in disordered d-wave superconductor. At zero energy, a finite density of states is obtained via the mechanism of dynamical mass generation in an effective (1+1)-dimensional relativistic field theory.
Magnetically mediated Cooper pairing is generally regarded as a key to establish the unified mechanism of unconventional superconductivity. One crucial evidence is the neutron spin resonance arising in the superconducting state, which is commonly interpreted as a spin-exciton from collective particle-hole excitations confined below the superconducting pair-breaking gap ($2Delta$). Here, on the basis of inelastic neutron scattering measurements on a quasi-two-dimensional iron-based superconductor KCa$_2$Fe$_4$As$_4$F$_2$, we have discovered a two-dimensional spin resonant mode with downward dispersions, a behavior closely resembling the low branch of the hour-glass-type spin resonance in cuprates. The resonant intensity is predominant by two broad incommensurate peaks near $Q=$(0.5, 0.5) with a sharp energy peak at $E_R=16$ meV. The overall energy dispersion of the mode exceeds the measured maximum total gap $Delta_{rm tot}=|Delta_k|+|Delta_{k+Q}|$. These experimental results deeply challenge the conventional understanding of the resonance modes as magnetic excitons regardless of underlining pairing symmetry schemes, and it also points out that when the iron-based superconductivity becomes very quasi-two-dimensional, the electronic behaviors are similar to those in cuprates.