Identifying the superconducting (SC) gap structure of the iron-based high-temperature superconductors (Fe-HTSs) remains a key issue for the understanding of superconductivity in these materials. In contrast to other unconventional superconductors, in
the Fe-HTSs both $d$-wave and extended s-wave pairing symmetries are close in energy, with the latter believed to be generally favored over the former. Probing the proximity between these very different SC states and identifying experimental parameters that can tune them, are of central interest. Here we report high-pressure muon spin rotation experiments on the temperature-dependent magnetic penetration depth (lambda) in the optimally doped Fe-HTS Ba_0.65Rb_0.35Fe_2As_2. At ambient pressure this material is known to be a nodeless s-wave superconductor. Upon pressure a strong decrease of (lambda) is observed, while the SC transition temperature remains nearly constant. More importantly, the low-temperature behavior of (1/lambda^{2}) changes from exponential saturation at zero pressure to a power-law with increasing pressure, providing unambiguous evidence that hydrostatic pressure promotes nodal SC gaps. Comparison to microscopic models favors a d-wave over a nodal s^{+-}-wave pairing as the origin of the nodes. Our results provide a new route of understanding the complex topology of the SC gap in Fe-HTSs.
The magnetic ground state of the hyper-kagome lattice in Na4Ir3O8 is explored via combined bulk magnetization, muon spin relaxation, and neutron scattering measurements. A short-range, frozen, state comprised of quasi-static moments develops below a
characteristic temperature of T_F=6 K, revealing an inhomogeneous distribution of spins occupying the entirety of the sample volume. Quasi-static, short-range, spin correlations persist until at least 20 mK and differ substantially from the nominally dynamic response of a quantum spin liquid. Our data demonstrate that an inhomogeneous magnetic ground state arises in Na4Ir3O8 driven either by disorder inherent to the creation of the hyper-kagome lattice itself or stabilized via quantum fluctuations.
Measurements of the in-plane magnetic field penetration depth lambda_{ab} in Fe-based superconductors with the nominal composition SmFeAsO_0.85 (T_csimeq52K) and NdFeAsO_0.85 (T_csimeq51K) were carried out by means of muon-spin-rotation. The absolute
values of lambda_{ab} at T=0 were found to be 189(5)nm and 195(5)nm for Sm and Nd substituted samples, respectively. The analysis of the magnetic penetration depth data within the Uemura classification scheme, which considers the correlation between the superconducting transition temperature T_c and the effective Fermi temperature T_F, reveal that both families of Fe-based superconductors (with and without fluorine) falls to the same class of unconventional superconductors.
