No Arabic abstract
The phase diagrams of EuFe$_{2-x}$Co$_x$As$_2$ $(0 leq x leq 0.4)$ and EuFe$_2$As$_{2-y}$P$_y$ $(0 leq y leq 0.43)$ are investigated by Eu$^{2+}$ electron spin resonance (ESR) in single crystals. From the temperature dependence of the linewidth $Delta H(T)$ of the exchange narrowed ESR line the spin-density wave (SDW) $(T < T_{rm SDW})$ and the normal metallic regime $(T > T_{rm SDW})$ are clearly distinguished. At $T > T_{rm SDW}$ the isotropic linear increase of the linewidth is driven by the Korringa relaxation which measures the conduction-electron density of states at the Fermi level. For $T < T_{rm SDW}$ the anisotropy probes the local ligand field, while the coupling to the conduction electrons disappears. With increasing substitution $x$ or $y$ the transition temperature $T_{rm SDW}$ decreases linearly accompanied by a linear decrease of the Korringa-relaxation rate from 8 Oe/K at $x=y=0$ down to 3 Oe/K at the onset of superconductivity at $x approx 0.2$ or at $y approx 0.3$, above which it remains nearly constant. Comparative ESR measurements on single crystals of the Eu diluted SDW compound Eu$_{0.2}$Sr$_{0.8}$Fe$_2$As$_2$ and superconducting (SC) Eu$_{0.22}$Sr$_{0.78}$Fe$_{1.72}$Co$_{0.28}$As$_2$ corroborate the leading influence of the ligand field on the Eu$^{2+}$ spin relaxation in the SDW regime as well as the Korringa relaxation in the normal metallic regime. Like in Eu$_{0.5}$K$_{0.5}$Fe$_2$As$_2$ a coherence peak is not detected in the latter compound at $T_{rm c}=21$ K, which is in agreement with the expected complex anisotropic SC gap structure.
We report a Fe Kbeta x-ray emission spectroscopy study of local magnetic moments in the rare-earth doped iron pnictide Ca_{1-x}RE_xFe_2As_2 (RE=La, Pr, and Nd). In all samples studied the size of the Fe local moment is found to decrease significantly with temperature and goes from ~0.9 mu_B at T = 300 K to ~0.45 mu_B at T = 70 K. In the collapsed tetragonal (cT) phase of Nd- and Pr-doped samples (T<70K) the local moment is quenched, while the moment remains unchanged for the La-doped sample, which does not show lattice collapse. Our results show that Ca_{1-x}RE_xFe_2As_2 (RE= Pr and Nd) exhibits a spin-state transition and provide direct evidence for a non-magnetic Fe^{2+} ion in the cT-phase, as predicted by Yildirim. We argue that the gradual change of the the spin-state over a wide temperature range reveals the importance of multiorbital physics, in particular the competition between the crystal field split Fe 3d orbitals and the Hunds rule coupling.
We study the spin resonance in superconducting state of iron-based materials within multiband models with two unequal gaps, $Delta_L$ and $Delta_S$, on different Fermi surface pockets. We show that due to the indirect nature of the gap entering the spin susceptibility at the nesting wave vector $mathbf{Q}$ the total gap $tildeDelta$ in the bare susceptibility is determined by the sum of gaps on two different Fermi surface sheets connected by $mathbf{Q}$. For the Fermi surface geometry characteristic to the most of iron pnictides and chalcogenides, the indirect gap is either $tildeDelta = Delta_L + Delta_S$ or $tildeDelta = 2Delta_L$. In the $s_{++}$ state, spin excitations below $tildeDelta$ are absent unless additional scattering mechanisms are assumed. The spin resonance appears in the $s_pm$ superconducting state at frequency $omega_R leq tildeDelta$. Comparison with available inelastic neutron scattering data confirms that what is seen is the true spin resonance and not a peak inherent to the $s_{++}$ state.
Weak-coupling approaches to the pairing problem in the iron pnictide superconductors have predicted a wide variety of superconducting ground states. We argue here that this is due both to the inadequacy of certain approximations to the effective low-energy band structure, and to the natural near-degeneracy of different pairing channels in superconductors with many distinct Fermi surface sheets. In particular, we review attempts to construct two-orbital effective band models, the argument for their fundamental inconsistency with the symmetry of these materials, and the comparison of the dynamical susceptibilities in two- and five-orbital models. We then present results for the magnetic properties, pairing interactions, and pairing instabilities within a five-orbital Random Phase Approximation model. We discuss the robustness of these results for different dopings, interaction strengths, and variations in band structure. Within the parameter space explored, an anisotropic, sign-changing s-wave state and a d_x2-y2 state are nearly degenerate, due to the near nesting of Fermi surface sheets.
Using an RPA approximation, we have calculated the strengths of the singlet and triplet pairing interactions which arise from the exchange of spin and orbital fluctuations for a 2-orbital model of the Fe-pnictide superconductors. When the system is doped with F, the electron pockets become dominant and we find that the strongest pairing occurs in the singlet d-wave pairing and the triplet p-wave pairing channels, which compete closely. The pairing structure in the singlet d-wave channel corresponds to a superposition of near neighbor intra-orbital singlets with a minus sign phase difference between the $d_{xz}$ and $d_{yz}$ pairs. The leading pairing configuration in the triplet channel also involves a nearest neighbor intra-orbital pairing. We find that the strengths of both the singlet and triplet pairing grow, with the singlet pairing growing faster, as the onsite Coulomb interaction approaches the value where the S=1 particle-hole susceptibility diverges.
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.