The superconducting gap in FeAs-based superconductor SmFeAs(O1-xFx) (x = 0.15 and 0.30) and the temperature dependence of the sample with x = 0.15 have been measured by Andreev reflection spectroscopy. The intrinsic superconducting gap is independent of contacts while many other gap-like features vary appreciably for different contacts. The determined gap value of 2D = 13.34 +/-0.47 meV for SmFeAs(O0.85F0.15) gives 2D/kBTC = 3.68, close to the BCS prediction of 3.53. The superconducting gap decreases with temperature and vanishes at TC, in a manner similar to the BCS behavior but dramatically different from that of the nodal pseudogap behavior in cuprate superconductors.
Point contact Andreev reflection studies have been conducted on FeSe single crystals by lowering the temperatures down to 0.5 K. The point contact Andreev reflection spectra were analyzed in the framework of the two-band model. As a result, the presence of two anisotropic superconducting gaps in FeSe were certainly established and their BCS-like temperature dependencies were obtained. The weights of each gap have been determined and the anisotropy parameter has been calculated. It is shown, that sub-kelvin temperatures are necessary to ascertain details of the superconducting gap structure, especially for multiband materials when Andreev reflection spectroscopy is applied.
FeSe single crystals have been studied by soft point-contact Andreev-reflection spectroscopy. Superconducting gap features in the differential resistance dV/dI(V) of point contacts such as a characteristic Andreev-reflection double-minimum structure have been measured versus temperature and magnetic field. Analyzing dV/dI within the extended two-gap Blonder-Tinkham-Klapwijk model allows to extract both the temperature and magnetic field dependence of the superconducting gaps. The temperature dependence of both gaps is close to the standard BCS behavior. Remarkably, the magnitude of the double-minimum structure gradually vanishes in magnetic field, while the minima position only slightly shifts with field indicating a weak decrease of the superconducting gaps. Analyzing the dV/dI(V) spectra for 25 point contacts results in the averaged gap values <Delta_L> = 1.8+/-0.4meV and <Delta_S>=1.0+/-0.2 meV and reduced values 2<Delta_L>/kTc=4.2+/-0.9 and 2<Delta_S>/kTc=2.3+/-0.5 for the large (L) and small (S) gap, respectively. Additionally, the small gap contribution was found to be within tens of percent decreasing with both temperature and magnetic field. No signatures in the dV/dI spectra were observed testifying a gapless superconductivity or presence of even smaller gaps.
Using intrinsic multiple Andreev reflections effect (IMARE) spectroscopy, we studied SnS contacts in the layered oxypnictide superconductors Sm$_{1-x}$Th$_x$OFeAs with various thorium doping and critical temperatures $T_C = 21-54$ K. We observe a scaling between both superconducting gaps and $T_C$. The determined BCS-ratio for the large gap $2Delta_L/k_BT_C = 5.0-5.7$ and its eigen BCS-ratio (in a hypothetical case of zero interband coupling) $2Delta_L/k_BT_C^L = 4.1-4.6$ both exceeding the weak-coupling limit 3.52, and for the small gap $2Delta_S/k_BT_C = 1.2-1.6$ remain nearly constant within all the $T_C$ range studied. The temperature dependences $Delta_{L,S}(T)$ agree well with a two-band BCS-like Moskalenko and Suhl model. We prove intraband coupling to be stronger than interband coupling, whereas and Coulomb repulsion constants $mu^{ast}$ are finite in Sm-based oxypnictides.
Point-contact Andreev reflection spectroscopy (PCAR) has proven to be one of the most powerful tools in the investigation of superconductors, where it provides information on the order parameter (OP), a fundamental property of the superconducting state. In the past 20 years, successive improvements of the models used to analyze the spectra have continuously extended its capabilities, making it suited to study new superconductors with exotic properties such as anisotropic, nodal and multiple OPs. In Fe-based superconductors, the complex compound- and doping-dependent Fermi surface and the predicted sensitivity of the OP to fine structural details present unprecedent challenges for this technique. Nevertheless, we show here that PCAR measurements in Fe-based superconductors carried out so far have already greatly contributed to our understanding of these materials, despite some apparent inconsistencies that can be overcome if a homogeneous treatment of the data is used. We also demonstrate that, if properly extended theoretical models for Andreev reflection are used, directional PCAR spectroscopy can provide detailed information not only on the amplitude and symmetry of the OPs, but also on the nature of the pairing boson, and even give some hints about the shape of the Fermi surface.
Systematic studies of the NdFeAsOF superconducting energy gap via the point-contact Andreev-reflection (PCAR) spectroscopy are presented. The PCAR conductance spectra show at low temperatures a pair of gap-like peaks at about 4 - 7 mV indicating the superconducting energy gap and in most cases also a pair of humps at around 10 mV. Fits to the s-wave two-gap model of the PCAR conductance allowed to determine two superconducting energy gaps in the system. The energy-gap features however disappear already at T* = 15 to 20 K, much below the particular Tc of the junction under study. At T* a zero-bias conductance (ZBC) peak emerges, which at higher temperatures usually overwhelms the spectrum with intensity significantly higher than the conductance signal at lower temperatures. Possible causes of this unexpected temperature effect are discussed. In some cases the conductance spectra show just a reduced conductance around the zero-bias voltage, the effect persisting well above the bulk transition temperature. This indicates a presence of the pseudogap in the system.
T. Y. Chen
,S. X. Huang
,Z. Tesanovic
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(2009)
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"Determination of Superconducting Gap of SmFeAsFxO1-x Superconductors by Andreev Reflection Spectroscopy"
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Tingyong Chen
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