Following the discovery of the Fe-pnictide superconductors, LDA band structure calculations showed that the dominant contributions to the spectral weight near the Fermi energy came from the Fe 3d orbitals. The Fermi surface is characterized by two hole surfaces around the $Γ$ point and two electron surfaces around the M point of the 2 Fe/cell Brillouin zone. Here, we describe a 2-band model that reproduces the topology of the LDA Fermi surface and exhibits both ferromagnetic and $q=(π,0)$ spin density wave (SDW) fluctuations. We argue that this minimal model contains the essential low energy physics of these materials.
It has been recently reported (S. Lee et al., Nature Materials 12, 392, 2013) that superlattices where layers of the 8% Co-doped BaFe2As2 superconducting pnictide are intercalated with non superconducting ultrathin layers of either SrTiO3 or of oxygen-rich BaFe2As2, can be used to control flux pinning, thereby increasing critical fields and currents, without significantly affecting the critical temperature of the pristine superconducting material. However, little is known about the electron properties of these systems. Here we investigate the electrodynamics of these superconducting pnictide s…
Transverse-field muon-spin rotation measurements performed on two samples of LiFeAs demonstrate that the superfluid stiffness of the superconducting condensate in relation to its superconducting transition temperature is enhanced compared to other pnictide superconductors. Evidence is seen for a field-induced magnetic state in a sample with a significantly suppressed superconducting transition temperature. The results in this system highlight the role of direct Fe-Fe interactions in frustrating pairing mediated by antiferromagnetic fluctuations and suggest that, in common with other pnictide s…
In several members of the pnictide materials, spin density wave order coexists with superconductivity over a range of dopings and temperature. In this paper we show that odd-frequency superconductivity emerges on the edges of pnictides in such a coexistence phase. In particular, the breaking of spin-rotation symmetry by SDW and translation symmetry by the edge can lead to the development of odd-frequency spin-triplet Cooper pairing on edges of superconducting pnictide samples. In this case, the odd-frequency pairing has even parity components, which are immune to disorder. Our results show tha…
In europium-based iron pnictides superconducting Fe-planes can be influenced by a Zeeman field originated from the neighboring Eu-planes. The field tends to induce spin-density waves with a ferromagnetic average which coexists with the superconducting order by forming complementary patterns of the superconducting and magnetic order parameters in a Fulde-Ferrell-Larkin-Ovchinnikov phase and a two-dimensional textured-superconducting phase. The hard gap around the Fermi energy disappears in these fragile inhomogeneous superconducting states, which features, instead, V-shaped spin-resolved local …
The electronic and magnetic structures in the normal and superconducting states of iron pnictides are investigated by solving self-consistently the Bogoliubov-de Gennes equation. It is shown that strong electron correlations can induce domain walls, which separate regions with different spin density wave orders. At zero or low electron doping, $90^\circ$ domain walls are formed while anti-phase domain walls are produced at higher electron doping. On the domain walls, larger electron densities are always present. The results agree qualitatively with recent observations of scanning tunneling mic…
THz and infrared spectroscopy is widely utilized to investigate the electrodynamic properties of the novel iron-based superconductors in the normal and superconducting states. Besides electronic excitations and correlations, electron-phonon coupling and the influence of magnetism, the experiments yield important information on low-lying excitations and help to clarify the number and symmetry of superconducting gaps. While the experimental data of different groups converge, the interpretation is still under debate. Here we review the status of optical investigations on the superconducting state…
High resolution magnetization measurements performed in a high quality Ba_(1-x)K_xFe2As2 single crystal allowed to determine the diamagnetism induced above the superconducting transition by thermally activated Cooper pairs. These data, obtained with magnetic fields applied along and transverse to the crystal ab layers, demonstrate experimentally that the superconducting transition of iron pnictides may be explained at a phenomenological level in terms of the Gaussian Ginzburg-Landau approach for three-dimensional anisotropic superconductors.
Neutron spin-flip scattering observations of a resonance in the superconducting state is often taken as evidence of an unconventional superconducting state in which the gap changes sign $Δ(k+Q)=-Δ(k)$ for momentum transfers $Q$ which play an important role in the pairing. Recently questions regarding this identification for the Fe-pnictide superconductors have been raised and it has been suggested that $Δ(k+Q)=Δ(k)$. Here we propose that inelastic neutron or x-ray scattering measurements of the spectral weight of a phonon of momentum $Q$ can distinguish between these two pairing scenarios.
We investigate the role of gap characteristics such as anisotropy and inequality of the gaps in the quasiparticle interferences of iron pnictides using a five-orbital tight-binding model. We examine how the difference in the sensitivities exhibited by the sign-changing and -preserving $s$-wave superconductivity in an annular region around ($π, 0$), which can be used to determine the sign change of the superconducting gap, gets affected when the gaps are unequal on the electron and hole pocket. In addition, we also discuss how robust these differentiating features are on changing the quasiparti…
This paper is replaced by arXiv:0907.2826, by these authors and M. Vavilov and A. Chubukov. A sign mistake in the original paper led to incorrect conclusions. The paper arXiv:0907.2826 supersedes this paper arXiv:0904.3926.
Measurements of the specific heat jump at the onset of superconducting transition in the iron-pnictide compounds revealed strong variation of its magnitude as a function of doping that is peaked near the optimal doping. We show that this behavior is direct manifestation of the coexistence between spin-density-wave and superconducting orders and the peak originates from thermal fluctuations of the spin-density-waves near the end point of the coexistence phase -- a tetracritical point. Thermal fluctuations result in a power-law dependence of the specific heat jump that is stronger than the contr…
The mechanism of formation of dome-like phase diagrams and the features of magnetic field penetration in iron pnictides with hetero- and isovalent doping are considered within the framework of the previously proposed model, which assumes the local character of doping and the cluster structure of resulted superconducting phase. It is shown that the proposed model, despite its simplicity and neglect of the features of the electronic structure, makes it possible not only to accurately calculate the positions of superconducting domes on the phase diagrams of specific HTSC compounds, but also to ex…
The experimental critical temperatures and gap values of the superconducting pnictides of both the 1111 and 122 families can be simultaneously reproduced within the Eliashberg theory by using a three-band model where the dominant role is played by interband interactions and the order parameter undergoes a sigh reversal between hole and electron bands (s+- wave symmetry). High values of the electron-boson coupling constants and small typical boson energies (in agreement with experiments) are necessary to obtain the values of all the gaps and to correctly reproduce their temperature dependence.
We discuss the structure of the superconducting gap in iron pnictides. In the itinerant electron picture, gaps with or without nodes have the extended s-wave (s+) symmetry and emerge within the same pairing mechanism, determined by the interplay between intra-pocket repulsion and inter-band pair hopping. If the pair hopping is stronger, the system develops an s+ gap without nodes. In the opposite case the superconductivity is governed by of the momentum-dependent part of the pair-hopping, and an s+ gap shows nodes on electron Fermi surfaces. We argue that the gap without/with nodes emerges in …
Some of the iron pnictides show coexisting superconductivity and spin-density-wave order. We study the superconducting pairing instability in the spin-density-wave phase. Assuming that the pairing interaction is due to spin fluctuations, we calculate the effective pairing interactions in the singlet and triplet channels by summing the bubble and ladder diagrams taking the reconstructed band structure into account. The leading pairing instabilities and the corresponding superconducting gap structures are then obtained from the superconducting gap equation. We illustrate this approach for a mini…
We consider a two-band superconductor with relative phase $π$ between the two order parameters as a model for the superconducting state in ferropnictides. Within this model we calculate the microwave response and the NMR relaxation rate. The influence of intra- and interband impurity scattering beyond the Born and unitary limits is taken into account. We show that, depending on the scattering rate, various types of power law temperature dependencies of the magnetic field penetration depth and the NMR relaxation rate at low temperatures may take place.
Superconducting cuprates and pnictides composed of CuO2 or AsFe planes respectively with intercalated insulating layers, are at the crossroads of three families of crystalline solids: metals, doped Mott insulators, and ferroelectrics. In the latter atomic displacements play a key role. Both the metallic and the doped insulator approaches to high temperature superconductivity are essentially electronic ones and do not directly involve the lattice. By contrast, in a recently proposed Bond Contraction Pairing (BCP) model, contraction of in-plane Cu-O (or As-Fe) bonds plays an essential role in th…
The review is focused on one of the most exotic families of iron-based superconductors belonging to the AFeAs structural type, where A is alkali metal. We briefly concern physical and electron properties of the typical members of this family, LiFeAs and NaFeAs, discuss the theoretical models describing the multiple-gap superconducting state, and the experimental data available in literature. As well, we specify the main unsolved problems, that seem crucial for both the AFeAs family and for iron-based superconductors in general.
This paper reviews experimental phase diagrams of cuprates and pnictides to demonstrate that specific features of the superconducting phase diagrams in bothHTSC families can be understood within the framework of the proposed approach,which assumes the formation, under heterovalent doping, of localized trion complexes consisting of a doped carrier and charge transfer (CT) excitons. The geometry of such cells containing CT excitons (CT plaquettes) in the basal plane of the crystal is determined by its crystal structure and the type of dopant, so that the dopant concentration range corresponding …
The mechanism of superconductivity in pnictides is discussed through direct doping in superconducting FeAs and also in charge reservoir REO layers. The un-doped SmFeAsO is charge neutral SDW (Spin Density Wave) compound with magnetic ordering below 150 K. The Superconducting FeAs layers are doped with Co and Ni at Fe site, whereas REO layers are doped with F at O site. The electron doping in SmFeAsO through Co results in superconductivity with transition temperature (Tc) maximum up to 15 K, whereas F doping results in Tc upto 47 K in SmFeAsO. All these REFe/Co/NiAsO/F compounds are iso-structu…
The coexisting regime of spin density wave (SDW) and superconductivity in the iron pnictides represents a novel ground state. We have performed high resolution angle-resolved photoemission measurements on NaFe1-xCoxAs (x = 0.0175) in this regime and revealed its distinctive electronic structure, which provides some microscopic understandings of its behavior. The SDW signature and the superconducting gap are observed on the same bands, illustrating the intrinsic nature of the coexistence. However, because the SDW and superconductivity are manifested in different parts of the band structure, the…
The effects of twin boundaries (TBs) on the complex interaction between magnetism and superconductivity in slightly electron-doped Ba(Ca)(FeAs)$_2$ superconductors are investigated. The spatial distributions of the magnetic, superconducting and charge density orders near two different types of TBs are calculated. We find that TBs corresponding to a 90$^\circ$ lattice rotation in the a-b plane enable magnetic domain walls to form with only a small effective Coulomb interaction between valance electrons, and that superconductivity is enhanced at such TBs. Contrastingly, we find that superconduct…
This article reviews the NMR and NQR studies on iron-based high-temperature superconductors by the IOP/Okayama group. It was found that the electron pairs in the superconducting state are in the spin-singlet state with multiple fully-opened energy gaps. The antiferromagnetic spin fluctuations in the normal state are found to be closely correlated with the superconductivity. Also the antiferromagnetic spin fluctuations are anisotropic in the spin space, which is different from the case in copper oxide superconductors. This anisotropy originates from the spin-orbit coupling and is an important r…
We study a unified mechanism for spin-density-wave (SDW) and superconductivity in a minimal model, in which itinerant electrons and local moments coexist as previously proposed for the iron pnictides [EPL, 88, 17010 (2009)]. The phase diagram obtained at the mean field level is in qualitative agreement with the experiment, which shows how the magnetic and superconducting (SC) instabilities are driven by the critial coupling between the itinerant/localized electrons. The spin and charge response functions at the random phase approximation (RPA) level further characterize the dynamical evolution…
Superconducting condensation energy $U_0^{int}$ has been determined by integrating the electronic entropy in various iron pnictide/chalcogenide superconducting systems. It is found that $U_0^{int}\propto T_c^n$ with $n$ = 3 to 4, which is in sharp contrast to the simple BCS prediction $U_0^{BCS}=1/2N_FΔ_s^2$ with $N_F$ the quasiparticle density of states at the Fermi energy, $Δ_s$ the superconducting gap. A similar correlation holds if we compute the condensation energy through $U_0^{cal}=3γ_n^{eff}Δ_s^2/4π^2k_B^2$ with $γ_n^{eff}$ the effective normal state electronic specific heat coefficien…
The development of the PIT fabrication process of iron pnictide superconducting wires and tapes has been carried out in order to enhance their transport properties. Silver was found to be the best sheath material, since no reaction layer was observed between the silver sheath and the superconducting core. The grain connectivity of iron pnictide wires and tapes has been markedly improved by employing Ag or Pb as dopants. At present, critical current densities in excess of 3750 A/cm^2 (Ic = 37.5 A) at 4.2 K have been achieved on Ag-sheathed SrKFeAs wires prepared with the above techniques, which…
A review of high-pressure studies on Fe-pnictide superconductors is given. The pressure effects on the magnetic and superconducting transitions are discussed for different classes of doped and undoped FeAs-compounds, ROFeAs (R = rare earth), AeFe2As2 (Ae = Ca, Sr, Ba), and AFeAs (A = Li, Na). Pressure tends to decrease the magnetic transition temperature in the undoped or only slightly doped compounds. The superconducting Tc increases with pressure for underdoped FeAs-pnictides, remains approximately constant for optimal doping, and decreases linearly in the overdoped range. The undoped LaOFeA…
We present uSR investigations on SmFeAsO_1-xF_x showing coexistence of magnetic order and superconductivity only in a very narrow F-doping range. The sharp crossover between the two types of order is similar to that observed in LaFeAsO_1-xF_x, suggesting a common behavior for the 1111 pnictides. The analysis of the muon asymmetry demonstrates that the coexistence must be nanoscopic, i.e. the two phases must be finely interspersed over a typical length-scale of few nm. In this regime both the magnetic and the superconducting transition temperatures collapse to very low values. Our data suggest …
We analyze the magnitude of the specific heat jump ΔC at the superconducting transition temperature T_c in the situation when superconductivity develops in the pre-existing antiferromagnetic phase. We show that ΔC/T_c differs from the BCS value and is peaked at the tri-critical point where this coexistence phase first emerges. Deeper in the magnetic phase, the onset of coexistence, T_c, drops and ΔC/T_c decreases, roughly as ΔC/T_c \propto T^2_c at intermediate T_c and exponentially at the lowest T_c, in agreement with the observed behavior of ΔC/T_c in iron-based superconductors.
Recent measurements of the doping dependence of the London penetration depth λ(x) at low temperatures in clean samples of isovalent BaFe_2[As_(1-x)P_x]_2 at T<<Tc [Hashimoto et al., Science 336, 1554 (2012)] revealed a peak in λ(x) near optimal doping x=0.3. The observation of the peak at T<<Tc, points to the existence of the quantum critical point (QCP) beneath the superconducting dome. We associate such a QCP with the onset of a spin- density-wave order and show that the renormalization of λ(x) by critical magnetic fluctuations, gives rise to the observed feature. We argue that the case of p…
In superconductors with unconventional pairing mechanisms, the energy gap in the excitation spectrum often has nodes, which allow quasiparticle excitations at low energies. In many cases, e.g. $d$-wave cuprate superconductors, the position and topology of nodes are imposed by the symmetry, and thus the presence of gapless excitations is protected against disorder. Here we report on the observation of distinct changes in the gap structure of iron-pnictide superconductors with increasing impurity scattering. By the successive introduction of nonmagnetic point defects into BaFe$_2$(As$_{1-x}$P$_x…
Motivated by recent experimental findings, we investigate the evolution of the superconducting gap anisotropy in 122 iron pnictides as a function of hole doping. Employing both a functional and a weak coupling renormalization group approach (FRG and WRG), we analyse the Fermi surface instabilities of an effective 122 model band structure at different hole dopings x, and derive the gap anisotropy from the leading superconducting instability. In the transition regime from collinear magnetism to s_{\pm}-wave, where strong correlations are present, we employ FRG to identify a non- monotonous chang…
The temperature and frequency dependences of the optical conductivity of Co and Ni-doped BaFe2As2 are analyzed and the electron-boson spectral density a2F(w) extracted using Eliashberg's formalism. The characteristic energy of a large peak in the spectrum around 10 meV coincide with the resonance peak in the spin excitation spectra, giving compelling evidence that in iron-based superconductors spin fluctuations strongly couple to the charge carriers and mediate superconductivity. In addition the spectrum is found to evolve with temperature towards a less structured background at higher energie…
Using both two orbital and five orbital models, we investigate the quasiparticle interference (QPI) patterns in the superconducting (SC) state of iron-based superconductors. We compare the results for nonmagnetic and magnetic impurities in sign-changed s-wave $\cos(k_x)\cdot\cos(k_y)$ and sign-unchanged $|\cos(k_x)\cdot\cos(k_y)|$ SC states. While the patterns strongly depend on the chosen band structures, the sensitivity of peaks around $(\pmπ,0)$ and $(0,\pmπ)$ wavevectors on magnetic or non-magnetic impurity, and sign change or sign unchanged SC orders is common in two models. Our results s…
Recently it was discovered that the jump in the specific heat at the superconducting transition in pnictide superconductors is proportional to the superconducting transition temperature to the third power, with the superconducting transition temperature varying from 2 to 25 Kelvin including underdoped and overdoped cases. Relying on standard scaling notions for the thermodynamics of strongly interacting quantum critical states, it is pointed out that this behavior is consistent with a normal state that is a quantum critical metal undergoing a pairing instability.
In conventional Bardeen-Cooper-Schrieffer (BCS) superconductors, superconductivity occurs when electrons form coherent Cooper pairs below the superconducting transition temperature Tc. Although the kinetic energy of paired electrons increases in the superconducting state relative to the normal state, the reduction in the ion lattice energy is sufficient to give the superconducting condensation energy. For iron pnictide superconductors derived from electron or hole doping of their antiferromagnetic (AF) parent compounds, the microscopic origin for supercnductivity is unclear. Here we use neutro…
This paper reviews the highlights of a 4-years-long research project supported by the Japanese Government to explore new superconducting materials and relevant functional materials. The project found several tens of new superconductors by examining ~1000 materials, each of which was chosen by Japanese team member experts with a background in solid state chemistry. This review summarizes the major achievements of the project in newly found superconducting materials, and the wire and tape fabrication of iron-based superconductors. It is a unique feature of this review to incorporate a list of ~7…
The temperature-dependent optical reflectivity and complex transmissivity of an epitaxially grown Ba(Fe$_{0.9}$Co$_{0.1}$)$_2$As$_2$ thin film were measured and the optical conductivity and permittivity evaluated over a wide frequency range. The opening of the superconducting gap $2Δ_0 = 3.7$ meV below $T_c\approx 20$ K is {\em directly} observed by a completely vanishing optical conductivity. The temperature and frequency dependent electrodynamic properties of Ba(Fe$_{0.9}$Co$_{0.1}$)$_2$As$_2$ in the superconducting state agree well with the BCS predictions with no nodes in the order paramet…
Consecutive proton irradiation of iron pnictides reduces the superconducting transition temperature to decrease monotonically. Our systematic optical THz investigations of Ba(Fe$_{0.9}$Co$_{0.1}$)$_2$As$_2$ thin films reveal, however, that the low-energy superconducting gap is first suppressed, but recovers for higher irradiation doses. At the same time the decrease of the superfluid density with disorder comes to a halt. These observations are in excellent agreement with theoretical calculations, which predict a disorder-induced transition of the order parameter from $s_{\pm}$ to $s_{++}$ sym…
Pseudogap (PG), a phenomenon of opening of gap like features above superconducting (SC) transition temperature (Tc), has been universally observed in the high-Tc cuprates (HTC) (1,2), some heavy fermion superconductors (3), and iron pnictides (4-7). Here, we report the observation of PG behavior in optical conductivity in an underdoped Ba0.6+δK0.4-δFe2As2 (Tconset =36 K) single crystal far above Tc, up to 100 K (~ 3Tc). Unique scale separation in Ba0.6+δK0.4-δFe2As2 compound - magnetic and SC correlation energy scales being widely separated - enabled us to establish that the PG structures obse…
In this short review, we attempt to give a comprehensive discussion of studies performed to date by muon-spin spectroscopy (more precisely the relaxation and rotation technique, also know as \muSR technique) on the recently discovered layered iron-based superconductors. On one side, \muSR has been used to characterized the magnetic state of different families of layered iron-based systems. Similarly the subtle interplay of the magnetic state and the structural transition present in some families has been investigated. We will also discuss the information provided by this technique on the inter…
A new layered oxypnictide (Fe2P2)(Sr4Sc2O6) have been synthesized by solid-state reaction. This material has an alternating layer stacking structure of anti-fluorite Fe2P2 and perovskite-based Sr4Sc2O6 oxide layers. Space group of the material is P4/nmm and lattice constants a and c are 4.016 A and 15.543 A, respectively. The interlayer Fe-Fe distance corresponding to the c-axis length is the longest ever reported in the iron-based oxypnictide systems. In both magnetization and resistivity measurements, the present compound exhibited superconductivity below 17 K, which is much higher than that…
We measure the penetration depth $λ_{ab}(T)$ in Ba(Fe$_{1-x}$Co$_{x}$)$_2$As$_2$ using local techniques that do not average over the sample. The superfluid density $ρ_s(T)\equiv1/λ_{ab}(T)^2$ has three main features. First, $ρ_s(T=0)$ falls sharply on the underdoped side of the dome. Second, $λ_{ab}(T)$ is flat at low $T$ at optimal doping, indicating fully gapped superconductivity, but varies more strongly in underdoped and overdoped samples, consistent with either a power law or a small second gap. Third, $ρ_s(T)$ varies steeply near $T_c$ for optimal and underdoping. These observations are …
The presence of macroscopic phase separation between the superconducting and magnetic phases in \cfcaf is demonstrated by muon spin rotation (muSR) measurements conducted across their phase boundaries (x=0.05-0.15). The magnetic phase tends to retain the high transition temperature (T_m > T_c), while Co-doping induces strong randomness. The volumetric fraction of superconducting phase is nearly proportional to the Co content $x$ with constant superfluid density. These observations suggest the formation of superconducting "islands" (or domains) associated with Co ions in the Fe$_2$As$_2$ layers…
The nature of the pseudogap in high transition temperature (high-Tc) superconducting cuprates has been a major issue in condensed matter physics. It is still unclear whether the high-Tc superconductivity can be universally associated with the pseudogap formation. Here we provide direct evidence of the existence of the pseudogap phase via angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy in another family of high-Tc superconductor, iron-pnictides. Our results reveal a composition dependent pseudogap formation in the multi-band electronic structure of BaFe2(As1-xPx)2. The pseudogap develops well above t…
A study of the temperature and field dependence of the penetration depth λof the superconductor RbFe_2As_2 (T_c=2.52 K) was carried out by means of muon-spin rotation measurements. In addition to the zero temperature value of the penetration depth λ(0)=267(5) nm, a determination of the upper critical field B_c2(0)=2.6(2) T was obtained. The temperature dependence of the superconducting carrier concentration is discussed within the framework of a multi-gap scenario. Compared to the other "122" systems which exhibit much higher Fermi level, a strong reduction of the large gap BCS ratio 2Δ/k_B T_…
The characteristic features of Ca$_{10}$(Pt$_3$As$_8$)[(Fe$_{1-x}$Pt$_x$)$_2$As$_2$]$_5$ ("10-3-8") superconductor are relatively high anisotropy and a clear separation of superconductivity and structural/magnetic transitions, which allows studying the superconducting gap without complications due to the coexisting order parameters. The London penetration depth, measured in underdoped single crystals of 10-3-8 ($x =$ 0.028, 0.041, 0.042, and 0.097), shows behavior remarkably similar to other Fe-based superconductors, exhibiting robust power-law, $Δλ(T) = A T^n$. The exponent $n$ decreases from…
In this paper we summarize the effects of magnetic and nonmagnetic impurities on the spin dynamics in Febased superconductors and their parent compounds. The effects of chemical substitution, vacancies, and disorder on the suppression or stabilization of superconductivity and spin-density-wave phases are reviewed in the context of recent neutron-spectroscopy measurements of spin excitations. We also present new results on the structure of magnetic fluctuations in BaFe2As2 single crystals doped with Mn local moments and discuss them in relationship to the previously reported (pi, pi) branch of …
By applying an exact unitary transformation to a two-band hamiltonian which also includes the effects due to large pnictogen polarizabilities, we show that an attractive spin-mediated Hubbard term appears in the $d_{xz}$, $d_{yz}$ nearest-neighbour channel. This pairing mechanism implies a singlet superconducting order parameter in iron pnictides.
Here we present a systematic study of the effects of pressure on the superconducting and spin/charge density wave (SDW/CDW) transitions of Ba$_{1-x}$Na$_x$Ti$_2$Sb$_2$O (x = 0, 0.10, and 0.15) by means of resistivity measurements. For x = 0 and 0.10, external pressure results in a decease of the SDW/CDW transition temperature T$_c$; however, no measurable change is observed for the x = 0.15. The pressure effect on the superconducting transition temperature is different for all three samples. For BaTi$_2$Sb$_2$O (x=0), T$_c$ increases significantly from 1.2 K at zero pressure to $\sim$ 2.9 K at…
The temperature and frequency dependences of the conductivity are derived from optical reflection and transmission measurements of electron doped BaFe$_2$As$_2$ crystals and films. The data is consistent with gap nodes or possibly a very small gap in the crossover region between these two possibilities. This can arise when one of the several pockets known to exist in these systems has extended s-wave gap symmetry with an anisotropic piece canceling or nearly so the isotropic part in some momentum direction. Alternatively, a node can be lifted by impurity scattering which reduces anisotropy. We…
Nematic order often breaks the tetragonal symmetry of iron-based superconductors. It arises from regular structural transition or electronic instability in the normal phase. Here, we report the observation of a nematic superconducting state, by measuring the angular dependence of the in-plane and out-of-plane magnetoresistivity of Ba0.5K0.5Fe2As2 single crystals. We find large twofold oscillations in the vicinity of the superconducting transition, when the direction of applied magnetic field is rotated within the basal plane. To avoid the influences from sample geometry or current flow directi…
Superconductivity develops in metals upon the formation of a coherent macroscopic quantum state of electron pairs. Iron pnictides and chalcogenides are materials that have high superconducting transition temperatures. In this Review, we describe the advances in the field that have led to higher superconducting transition temperatures in iron-based superconductors and the wide range of materials that form them. We summarize both the essential aspects of the normal state and the mechanism for superconductivity. We emphasize the degree of electron-electron correlations and their manifestation in …
Electrical-resistivity and magnetic-susceptibility measurements under hydrostatic pressure up to p = 2.75 GPa have been performed on superconducting LiFeP. A broad superconducting (SC) region exists in the temperature - pressure (T-p) phase diagram. No indications for a spin-density-wave transition have been found, but an enhanced resistivity coefficient at low pressures hints at the presence of magnetic fluctuations. Our results show that the superconducting state in LiFeP is more robust than in the isostructural and isoelectronic LiFeAs. We suggest that this finding is related to the nearly …
Electronic Raman scattering measures a polarization-dependent scattering intensity which can provide information about the location of nodes in the energy gap of an unconventional superconductor as well as its overall symmetry. In this paper, we calculate the Raman intensity in the presence of disorder for several models of the iron pnictide superconducting state. We include, for completeness, $d$-wave and isotropic $s_\pm$ responses in addition to more realistic extended $s_\pm$ superconducting gaps. The effect of disorder is modeled using a self-consistent $T$-matrix approximation, and is st…
We study the symmetry and strength of the superconducting pairing in a two-orbital t-J1-J2-K model for iron pnictides using the salve boson mean-field theory. We show that the nearest-neighbor biquadratic interaction -K (S_i * S_j)^2 inflences the superconducting pairing phase diagram by promoting the d_{x2-y2} B_{1g} and the s_{x^2+y^2} A_{1g} channels. The resulting phase diagram consists of several competing pairing channels, including an isotropic s_{\pm} A_{1g} channel, an anisotropic d_{x2-y2} B_{1g} channel, and two s+id pairing channels. We have investigated the evolution of supercondu…
A linear temperature dependence of the electrical resistivity as T -> 0 is the hallmark of quantum criticality in heavy-fermion metals and the archetypal normal-state property of high-Tc superconductors, yet in both cases it remains unexplained. We report a linear resistivity on the border of spin-density-wave order in the organic superconductor (TMTSF)2X (X = PF6, ClO4), whose strength scales with the superconducting temperature Tc. This scaling, also present in the pnictide superconductors, reveals an intimate connection between linear-T scattering and pairing, shown by renormalization group…
A trapped field of over 1 T at 5 K and 0.5 T at 20 K has been measured between a stack of magnetized cylinders of bulk polycrystalline Ba0.6K0.4Fe2As2 superconductors 10 mm in diameter and 18 mm in combined thickness. The trapped field showed a low magnetic creep rate (~3% after 24 hours at 5 K), while magneto-optical imaging revealed a trapped field distribution corresponding to uniform macroscopic current loops circulating through the sample. The superconductors were manufactured by hot isostatic pressing of pre-reacted powders using the scalable powder-in-tube technique. A high Vickers hard…
Muon-spin rotation experiments were performed on the pnictide high temperature superconductor SmFeAsO$_{1-x}$F$_{x}$ with x=0.18 and 0.3. We observed an unusual enhancement of slow spin fluctuations in the vicinity of the superconducting which suggests that the spin fluctuations contribute to the formation of an unconventional superconducting state. An estimate of the in-plane penetration depth $λ_{ab}(0)=190(5)$\thinspace nm was obtained, which confirms that the pnictide superconductors obey an Uemura-style relationship between $T_{\mathrm{c}}$ and $λ_{ab}(0)^{-2}$.
Ferromagnetism and superconductivity are antagonistic phenomena. Their coexistence implies either a modulated ferromagnetic order parameter on a lengthscale shorter than the superconducting coherence length or a weak exchange coupling between the itinerant superconducting electrons and the localized ordered spins. In some iron based pnictide superconductors the coexistence of ferromagnetism and superconductivity has been clearly demonstrated. The nature of the coexistence, however, remains elusive since no clear understanding of the spin structure in the superconducting state has been reached …
