No Arabic abstract
The optical properties of Ba$_{0.6}$K$_{0.4}$Fe$_{2}$As$_{2}$ have been determined in the normal state for a number of temperatures over a wide frequency range. Two Drude terms, representing two groups of carriers with different scattering rates ($1/tau$), well describe the real part of the optical conductivity, $sigma_{1}(omega)$. A broad Drude component results in an incoherent background with a $T$-independent $1/tau_b$, while a narrow Drude component reveals a $T$-linear $1/tau_n$ resulting in a resistivity $rho_n equiv 1/sigma_{1n}(omegarightarrow 0)$ also linear in temperature. An arctan($T$) low-frequency spectral weight is also a strong evidence for a $T$-linear 1/$tau$. Comparison to other materials with similar behavior suggests that the $T$-linear $1/tau_n$ and $rho_n$ in Ba$_{0.6}$K$_{0.4}$Fe$_{2}$As$_{2}$ originate from scattering from spin fluctuations and hence that an antiferromagnetic quantum critical point is likely to exist in the superconducting dome.
We report on band-dependent quasiparticle dynamics in Ba$_{0.6}$K$_{0.4}$Fe$_2$As$_2$ ($T_c = 37 K$) measured using ultrafast pump-probe spectroscopy. In the superconducting state, we observe two distinct relaxation processes: a fast component whose decay rate increases linearly with excitation density and a slow component with an excitation density independent decay rate. We argue that these two components reflect the recombination of quasiparticles in the two hole bands through intraband and interband processes. We also find that the thermal recombination rate of quasiparticles increases quadratically with temperature. The temperature and excitation density dependence of the decays indicates fully gapped hole bands and nodal or very anisotropic electron bands.
Superfluid density ($n_s$) in the mixed state of an iron pnictide superconductor Ba$_{0.6}$K$_{0.4}$Fe$_2$As$_2$ is determined by muon spin rotation for a sample with optimal doping ($x=0.4$). The temperature dependence of $n_s$ is perfectly reproduced by the conventional BCS model for s-wave paring, where the order parameter can be either a single-gap with $Delta=8.35(6)$ meV [$2Delta/k_BT_c=5.09(4)$], or double-gap structure with $Delta_1=12$ meV (fixed) [$2Delta_1/k_BT_c=7.3$] and $Delta_2=6.8(3)$ meV [$2Delta_2/k_BT_c=4.1(2)$]. The latter is consistent with the recent result of angle-resolved photo-emssion spectroscopy. The large gap parameters ($2Delta/k_BT_c$) indicate extremely strong coupling of carriers to bosons that mediate the Cooper pairing.
We performed optical spectroscopy measurement on a superconducting Ba$_{0.6}$K$_{0.4}$Fe$_2$As$_2$ single crystal with T$_c$=37 K. Formation of the superconducting energy gaps in the far-infared reflectance spectra below T$_c$ is clearly observed. The gap amplitudes match well with the two distinct superconducting gaps observed in angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy experiments on different Fermi surfaces. We determined absolute value of the penetration depth at 10 K as $lambdasimeq2000 AA$. A spectral weight analysis shows that the Ferrell-Glover-Timkham sum rule is satisfied at low energy scale, less than 6$Delta$.
We have successfully grown high quality single crystals of SrFe$_2$As$_2$ and A$_{0.6}$K$_{0.4}$Fe$_2$As$_2$(A=Sr, Ba) using flux method. The resistivity, specific heat and Hall coefficient have been measured. For parent compound SrFe$_2$As$_2$, an anisotropic resistivity with $rho_c$ / $rho_{ab}$ as large as 130 is obtained at low temperatures. A sharp drop in both in-plane and out-plane resistivity due to the SDW instability is observed below 200 K. The angular dependence of in-plane magnetoresistance shows 2-fold symmetry with field rotating within ab plane below SDW transition temperature. This is consistent with a stripe-type spin ordering in SDW state. In K doped A$_{0.6}$K$_{0.4}$Fe$_2$As$_2$(A=Sr. Ba), the SDW instability is suppressed and the superconductivity appears with T$_c$ above 35 K. The rather low anisotropy in upper critical field between H$parallel$ab and H$parallel$c indicates inter-plane coupling play an important role in hole doped Fe-based superconductors.
Pairing symmetry which characterizes the superconducting pairing mechanism is normally determined by measuring the superconducting gap structure ($|Delta_k|$). Here, we report the measurement of a strain-induced gap modulation ($partial|Delta_k|$) in uniaxially strained Ba$_{0.6}$K$_{0.4}$Fe$_2$As$_2$ utilizing angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy and $in$-$situ$ strain-tuning. We found that the uniaxial strain drives Ba$_{0.6}$K$_{0.4}$Fe$_2$As$_2$ into a nematic superconducting state which breaks the four-fold rotational symmetry of the superconducting pairing. The superconducting gap increases on the $d_{yz}$ electron and hole pockets while it decreases on the $d_{xz}$ counterparts. Such orbital selectivity indicates that orbital-selective pairing exists intrinsically in non-nematic iron-based superconductors. The $d_{xz}$ and $d_{yz}$ pairing channels are balanced originally in the pristine superconducting state, but become imbalanced under uniaxial strain. Our results highlight the important role of intra-orbital scattering in mediating the superconducting pairing in iron-based superconductors. It also highlights the measurement of $partial|Delta_k|$ as an effective way to characterize the superconducting pairing from a perturbation perspective.