No Arabic abstract
We report measurements of the London penetration depth [$Deltalambda(T)$] of the recently discovered iron-based superconductor (Li$_{1-x}$Fe$_x$)OHFeSe, in order to characterize the nature of the superconducting gap structure. At low temperatures, $Deltalambda(T)$ displays nearly temperature independent behavior, indicating a fully open superconducting gap. We also analyze the superfluid density $rho_s(T)$ which cannot be well accounted for by a single-gap isotropic $s$-wave model but are consistent with either two-gaps, a model for the orbital selective $stimestau_3$ state or anisotropic $s$-wave superconductivity.
We observed the anisotropic superconducting-gap (SC-gap) structure of a slightly overdoped superconductor, Ba(Fe$_{1-x}$Co$_{x}$)$_{2}$As$_{2}$ ($x=0.1$), using three-dimensional (3D) angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy. Two hole Fermi surfaces (FSs) observed at the Brillouin zone center and an inner electron FS at the zone corner showed a nearly isotropic SC gap in 3D momentum space. However, the outer electron FS showed an anisotropic SC gap with nodes or gap minima around the M and A points. The different anisotropies obtained the SC gap between the outer and inner electron FSs cannot be expected from all theoretical predictions with spin fluctuation, orbital fluctuation, and both competition. Our results provide a new insight into the SC mechanisms of iron pnictide superconductors.
The antiferromagnetic(AFM) insulator-superconductor transition has been always a center of interest in the underlying physics of unconventional superconductors. The quantum phase transition between Mott insulator with AFM and superconductor can be induced by doping charge carriers in high-Tc cuprate superconductors. For the best characterized organic superconductors of k-(BEDT-TTF)2X (X=anion), a first order transition between AFM insulator and superconductor can be tuned by applied external pressure or chemical pressure. Also, the superconducting state can be directly developed from AFM insulator by application of pressure in Cs3C60. The resemblance of these phase diagrams hints a universal mechanism governing the unconventional superconductivity in close proximity to AFM insulators. However, the superconductivity in iron-based high-Tc superconductors evolves from an AFM bad metal by doping charge carriers, and no superconductor-insulator transition has been observed so far. Here, we report a first-order transition from superconductor to insulator with a strong charge doping induced by ionic gating in the thin flakes of single crystal (Li,Fe)OHFeSe. The Tc is continuously enhanced with electron doping by ionic gating up to a maximum Tc of 43 K, and a striking superconductor-insulator transition occurs just at the verge of optimal doping with highest Tc. A novel phase diagram of temperature-gating voltage with the superconductor-insulator transition is mapped out, indicating that the superconductor -insulator transition is a common feature for unconventional superconductivity. These results help to uncover the underlying physics of iron-based superconductivity as well as the universal mechanism of high-Tc superconductivity. Our finding also suggests that the gate-controlled strong charge doping makes it possible to explore novel states of matter in a way beyond traditional methods.
We report a doping dependent electronic Raman scattering measurements on iron-pnictide superconductor Ba(Fe$_{1-x}$Co$_x$)$_2$As$_2$ single crystals. A strongly anisotropic gap is found at optimal doping for x=0.065 with $Delta_{max}sim 5Delta_{min}$. Upon entering the coexistence region between superconducting (SC) and spin-density-wave (SDW) orders, the effective pairing energy scale is strongly reduced. Our results are interpreted in terms of a competition between SC and SDW orders for electronic state at the Fermi level. Our findings advocate for a strong connection between the SC and SDW gaps anisotropies which are both linked to interband interactions.
The precise momentum dependence of the superconducting gap in the iron-arsenide superconductor with Tc = 32K (BKFA) was determined from angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy (ARPES) via fitting the distribution of the quasiparticle density to a model. The model incorporates finite lifetime and experimental resolution effects, as well as accounts for peculiarities of BKFA electronic structure. We have found that the value of the superconducting gap is practically the same for the inner Gamma-barrel, X-pocket, and blade-pocket, and equals 9 meV, while the gap on the outer Gamma-barrel is estimated to be less than 4 meV, resulting in 2Delta/kT_c=6.8 for the large gap, and 2Delta/kT_c<3 for the small gap. A large (77 pm 3%) non-superconducting component in the photoemission signal is observed below T_c. Details of gap extraction from ARPES data are discussed in Appendix.
The superconducting gap structure of a topological crystalline insulator (TCI) candidate ZrRuAs ($T^{rm on}_{rm c}$ = 7.9(1) K) with a noncentrosymmetric crystal structure has been investigated using muon spin rotation/relaxation ($mu$SR) measurements in transverse-field (TF) and zero-field (ZF) geometries. We also present the results of magnetization, electrical resistivity and heat capacity measurements on ZrRuAs, which reveal bulk superconductivity below 7.9~K. The temperature dependence of the effective penetration depth obtained from the analysis of the TF-$mu$SR spectra below $T_{rm c}$ is well described by an isotropic $s$-wave gap model as also inferred from an analysis of the heat capacity in the superconducting state. ZF $mu$SR data do not show any significant change in the muon spin relaxation rate above and below the superconducting transition temperature indicating that time-reversal symmetry is preserved in the superconducting state of this material.