No Arabic abstract
There is growing evidence that the superconducting semimetal FeSe ($T_csim8$ K) is in the crossover regime between weak-coupling Bardeen-Cooper-Schrieffer (BCS) and strong-coupling Bose-Einstein-condensate (BEC) limits. We report on longitudinal and transverse thermal conductivities, $kappa_{xx}$ and $kappa_{xy}$, respectively, in magnetic fields up to 20 T. The field dependences of $kappa_{xx}$ and $kappa_{xy}$ imply that a highly anisotropic small superconducting gap forms at the electron Fermi-surface pocket whereas a more isotropic and larger gap forms at the hole pocket. Below $sim1.0$ K, both $kappa_{xx}$ and $kappa_{xy}$ exhibit distinct anomalies (kinks) at the upper critical field $H_{c2}$ and at a field $H^*$ slightly below $H_{c2}$. The analysis of the thermal Hall angle ($kappa_{xy}/kappa_{xx}$) indicates a change of the quasiparticle scattering rate at $H^*$. These results provide strong support to the previous suggestion that above $H^*$ a distinct field-induced superconducting phase emerges with an unprecedented large spin imbalance.
We study dynamic ground state properties in the crossover from weak (BCS) to strong coupling (BEC) superfluidity. Our approach is based on the attractive Hubbard model which is analyzed by the dynamical mean field theory (DMFT) combined with the numerical renormalization group (NRG). We present an extension of the NRG method for effective impurity models to selfconsistent calculations with superconducting symmetry breaking. In the one particle spectra we show quantitatively how the Bogoliubov quasiparticles at weak coupling become suppressed at intermediate coupling. We also present results for the spin and charge gap. The extension of the NRG method to selfconsistent superconducting solutions opens the possibility to study a range of other important applications.
The physics of the crossover between weak-coupling Bardeen-Cooper-Schrieffer (BCS) and strong-coupling Bose-Einstein-condensate (BEC) limits gives a unified framework of quantum bound (superfluid) states of interacting fermions. This crossover has been studied in the ultracold atomic systems, but is extremely difficult to be realized for electrons in solids. Recently, the superconducting semimetal FeSe with a transition temperature $T_{rm c}=8.5$ K has been found to be deep inside the BCS-BEC crossover regime. Here we report experimental signatures of preformed Cooper pairing in FeSe below $T^*sim20$ K, whose energy scale is comparable to the Fermi energies. In stark contrast to usual superconductors, large nonlinear diamagnetism by far exceeding the standard Gaussian superconducting fluctuations is observed below $T^*sim20$ K, providing thermodynamic evidence for prevailing phase fluctuations of superconductivity. Nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) and transport data give evidence of pseudogap formation at $sim T^*$. The multiband superconductivity along with electron-hole compensation in FeSe may highlight a novel aspect of the BCS-BEC crossover physics.
In paired Fermi systems, strong many-body effects exhibit in the crossover regime between the Bardeen-Cooper-Schrieffer (BCS) and the Bose-Einstein condensation (BEC) limits. The concept of the BCS-BEC crossover, which is studied intensively in the research field of cold atoms, has been extended to condensed matters. Here, by analyzing the typical superconductors within the BCS-BEC phase diagram, we find that FeSe-based superconductors are prone to shift their positions in the BCS-BEC crossover regime by charge doping or substrate substitution, since their Fermi energies and the superconducting gap sizes are comparable. Especially at the interface of a single-layer FeSe on SrTiO3 substrate, the superconductivity is relocated closer to the crossover unitary than other doped FeSe-based materials, indicating that the pairing interaction is effectively modulated. We further show that hole-doping can drive the interfacial system into the phase with possible pre-paired electrons, demonstrating its flexible tunability within the BCS-BEC crossover regime.
We present resistivity and thermal-conductivity measurements of superconducting FeSe in intense magnetic fields up to 35 T applied parallel to the $ab$ plane. At low temperatures, the upper critical field $mu_0 H_{c2}^{ab}$ shows an anomalous upturn, while thermal conductivity exhibits a discontinuous jump at $mu_0 H^{ast}approx 24$ T well below $mu_0 H_{c2}^{ab}$, indicating a first-order phase transition in the superconducting state. This demonstrates the emergence of a distinct field-induced superconducting phase. Moreover, the broad resistive transition at high temperatures abruptly becomes sharp upon entering the high-field phase, indicating a dramatic change of the magnetic-flux properties. We attribute the high-field phase to the Fulde-Ferrel-Larkin-Ovchinnikov (FFLO) state, where the formation of planar nodes gives rise to a segmentation of the flux-line lattice. We point out that strongly orbital-dependent pairing as well as spin-orbit interactions, the multiband nature, and the extremely small Fermi energy are important for the formation of the FFLO state in FeSe.
The nature of the pseudogap phase of cuprates remains a major puzzle. Although there are indications that this phase breaks various symmetries, there is no consensus on its fundamental nature. Although Fermi-surface, transport and thermodynamic signatures of the pseudogap phase are reminiscent of a transition into a phase with antiferromagnetic order, there is no evidence for an associated long-range magnetic order. Here we report measurements of the thermal Hall conductivity $kappa_{rm xy}$ in the normal state of four different cuprates (Nd-LSCO, Eu-LSCO, LSCO, and Bi2201) and show that a large negative $kappa_{rm xy}$ signal is a property of the pseudogap phase, appearing with the onset of that phase at the critical doping $p^*$. Since it is not due to charge carriers -- as it persists when the material becomes an insulator, at low doping -- or magnons -- as it exists in the absence of magnetic order -- or phonons -- since skew scattering is very weak, we attribute this $kappa_{rm xy}$ signal to exotic neutral excitations, presumably with spin chirality. The thermal Hall conductivity in the pseudogap phase of cuprates is reminiscent of that found in insulators with spin-liquid states. In the Mott insulator LCO, it attains the highest known magnitude of any insulator.