The lithium ions in Lithium iron arsenide phases with compositions close to LiFeAs have been located using powder neutron diffraction. These phases exhibit superconductivity at temperatures at least as high as 16 K demonstrating that superconductivity in compounds with [FeAs]- anti-PbO-type anionic layers occurs in compounds with at least three different structure types and occurs for a wide range of As-Fe-As bond angles.
A new iron arsenide superconducting system LiFeAs was found that crystallizes into a tetragonal structure with space group P4/nmm. The superconductivity with Tc up to 18 K was observed in the compounds. This simple 111 type layered iron arsenide superconductor can be viewed as an analogue of the infinite layer structure of copper oxides.
We measured the optical conductivity of superconducting LiFeAs. In the superconducting state, the formation of the condensate leads to a spectral-weight loss and yields a penetration depth of 225 nm. No sharp signature of the superconducting gap is observed. This suggests that the system is likely in the clean limit. A Drude-Lorentz parametrization of the data in the normal state reveals a quasiparticle scattering rate supportive of spin fluctuations and proximity to a quantum critical point.
A combined density functional theory and functional renormalization group method is introduced which takes into account orbital-dependent interaction parameters to derive the effective low-energy theory of weakly to intermediately correlated Fermi systems. As an application, the competing fluctuations in LiFeAs are investigated, which is the main representative of the 111 class of iron pnictides displaying no magnetic order, but superconductivity, for the parent compound. The superconducting order parameter is found to be of s+- type driven by collinear antiferromagnetic fluctuations. They eve…
If strong electron-electron interactions between neighboring Fe atoms mediate the Cooper pairing in iron-pnictide superconductors, then specific and distinct anisotropic superconducting energy gaps Δ_i(k) should appear on the different electronic bands i. Here we introduce intra-band Bogoliubov quasiparticle scattering interference (QPI) techniques for determination of Δ_i(k) in such materials, focusing on LiFeAs. We identify the three hole-like bands assigned previously as γ, α_2 and α_1, and we determine the anisotropy, magnitude and relative orientations of their Δ_i(k). These measurements …
We report fully momentum dependent, self-consistent calculations of the gap symmetry, Fermi surface (FS) anisotropy and Tc of superconducting (SC) LiFeAs using the experimental band structure and a realistic small-q electron phonon interaction within the framework of Migdal-Eliashberg theory. In the stoichiometric regime, we find the exact s++ gap as reported by ARPES. For slight deviations from stoichiometry towards electron doping, we find that a chiral triplet p_x+ip_y state stabilizes near Tc and that at lower temperatures a transition from the triplet to singlet s+- SC takes place. Furthe…
The relationship between unconventional superconductivity, antiferromagnetism and nematic order in iron-based superconductors (FeSCs) is still highly debated. In many FeSCs superconductivity is in proximity of a nematically and magnetically ordered state. LiFeAs is an exceptional stoichiometric FeSC becoming superconducting below 18 K, without undergoing a structural or magnetic transition. However, some recent experimental studies suggested the existence of finite nematic fluctuations and even a nematic superconducting state. In this study, we employ elastoresistance as a measure of nematic f…
We have performed temperature dependent tunneling spectroscopy on an impurity-free surface area of a LiFeAs single crystal. Our data reveal a highly unusual temperature evolution of superconductivity: at $T_c^*=18$~K a partial superconducting gap opens, as is evidenced by subtle, yet clear features in the tunneling spectra, i.e. particle-hole symmetric coherence peaks, and a dip-hump structure which signals strong-coupling superconductivity. At $T_c=16$~K, these features substantiate dramatically and become characteristic of full superconductivity. Remarkably, this is accompanied by an almost …
In this letter, we reported the results of NMR study on LiFeAs single crystals. We find a strong evidence of the low temperature spin fluctuations; by changing sample preparation conditions, the system can be tuned toward an spin-density-wave (SDW) quantum-critical point. The detection of an interstitial Li(2) ion, possibly locating in the tetrahedral hole, suggests that the off-stoichiometry and/or lattice defect can probably account for the absence of the SDW ordering in LiFeAs. These facts show that LiFeAs is a strongly correlated system and the superconductivity is likely originated from t…
The nonadiabatic Heisenberg model predicts a structural distortion in LiFeAs below a temperature higher than (or at least equal to) the superconducting transition temperature. Within this group-theoretical model, the reduction of the symmetry caused by the distortion is a prerequisite for the superconducting state in this compound and can be realized by a mere displacement of the iron atoms from their positions in the space group P4/nmm.
Superconducting pnictides are widely found to feature spin-singlet pairing in the vicinity of an antiferromagnetic phase, for which nesting between electron and hole Fermi surfaces is crucial. LiFeAs differs from the other pnictides by (i) poor nesting properties and (ii) unusually shallow hole pockets. Investigating magnetic and pairing instabilities in an electronic model that incorporates these differences, we find antiferromagnetic order to be absent. Instead we observe almost ferromagnetic fluctuations which drive an instability toward spin-triplet p-wave superconductivity.
We use neutron scattering to study vanadium (hole)-doped LiFe$_{1-x}$V$_x$As. In the undoped state, LiFeAs exhibits superconductivity at $T_c=18$ K and transverse incommensurate spin excitations similar to electron overdoped iron pnictides. Upon vanadium-doping to form LiFe$_{0.955}$V$_{0.045}$, the transverse incommensurate spin excitations in LiFeAs transform into longitudinally elongated in a similar fashion as that of potassium (hole) doped Ba$_{0.7}$K$_{0.3}$Fe$_2$As$_2$, but with dramatically enhanced magnetic scattering and elimination of superconductivity. This is different from the su…
Nodal superconductivity is observed in LiFeP while its counterpart LiFeAs with similar topology and orbital content of the Fermi surfaces is a nodeless superconductor. We explain this difference by solving, in the two-Fe Brillouin zone, the frequency-dependent Eliashberg equations with spin-fluctuation mediated pairing interaction. Because of Fermi surface topology details, in LiFeAs all the Fe-$t_{2g}$ orbitals favor a common pairing symmetry. By contrast, in LiFeP the $d_{xy}$ orbital favors a pairing symmetry different from $d_{xz/yz}$ and their competition determines the pairing symmetry a…
The optical properties of LiFeAs with $T_c \simeq$ 18 K have been determined in the normal and superconducting states. The superposition of two Drude components yields a good description of the low-frequency optical response in the normal state. Below $T_c$, the optical conductivity reveals two isotropic superconducting gaps with $Δ_{1} \simeq 2.9$ $\pm$ 0.2 meV and $Δ_{2} \simeq 5.5$ $\pm$ 0.4 meV. A comparison between the superconducting-state Mattis-Bardeen and the normal-state Drude components, in combination with a spectral weight analysis, indicates that the spectral weight associated wi…
The resistivity, Hall effect and transverse magnetoresistance (MR) have been measured in low residual resistivity single crystals of LiFeAs. A comparison with angle resolved photoemission spectroscopy and quantum oscillation data implies that four carrier bands unevenly contribute to the transport. However the scattering rates of the carriers all display the T^2 behavior expected for a Fermi liquid. Near Tc low field deviations of the MR with respect to a H^2 variation permit us to extract the superconducting fluctuation contribution to the conductivity. Though below Tc the anisotropy of super…
The particular shape of the Fermi surface can give rise to a number of collective quantum phenomena in solids, such as density wave orderings or even superconductivity. In many new iron superconductors this shape, the 'nested' Fermi surface, is indeed observed, but its role in the formation of spin-density waves or superconductivity is not clear. We have studied the electronic structure of the non-magnetic LiFeAs (Tc~18K) superconductor using angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy. We find a notable absence of the Fermi surface nesting, strong renormalization of the conduction bands by a fa…
The variations of in- and inter- plane London penetration depths, $Δλ(T)$, were measured using a tunnel diode resonator in single crystals of the intrinsic pnictide superconductor LiFeAs. This compound appears to be in the clean limit with a residual resistivity of 4 ($T\to0$) to 8 ($T_c$) $μΩ\cdot$cm and $RRR$ of 65 to 35, respectively. The superfluid density, $ρ_s(T)=λ^2(0)/λ^2(T)$, is well described by the self-consistent two-gap $γ-$model. Together with the previous data, our results support the universal evolution of the superconducting gap from nodeless to nodal upon departure from optim…
We report neutron inelastic scattering measurements on the stoichiometric iron-based superconductor LiFeAs. We find evidence for (i) magnetic scattering consistent with strong antiferromagnetic fluctuations, and (ii) an increase in intensity in the superconducting state at low energies, similar to the resonant magnetic excitation observed in other iron-based superconductors. The results do not support a recent theoretical prediction of spin-triplet p-wave superconductivity in LiFeAs, and instead suggest that the mechanism of superconductivity is similar to that in the other iron-based supercon…
Precise gap structure in LiFeAs (Tc = 18 K) given by ARPES studies offers us significant information to understand the pairing mechanism in iron-based superconductors. The most remarkable characteristics in LiFeAs gap structure would be that "the largest gap emerges on the tiny hole-pockets around Z point". This result had been naturally explained in terms of the orbital-fluctuation scenario (T. Saito et al., Phys. Rev. B 90, 035104 (2014)), whereas an opposite result is obtained by the spin-fluctuation scenario. In this paper, we study the gap structure in LiFeAs by taking the spin-orbit inte…
In conventional s-wave superconductors, only magnetic impurities exhibit impurity bound states, whereas for an s+- order parameter they can occur for both magnetic and non-magnetic impurities. Impurity bound states in superconductors can thus provide important insight into the order parameter. Here, we present a combined experimental and theoretical study of native and engineered iron-site defects in LiFeAs. Detailed comparison of tunneling spectra measured on impurities with spin fluctuation theory reveals a continuous evolution from negligible impurity bound state features for weaker scatter…
Amongst the iron-based superconductors, LiFeAs is unrivalled in the simplicity of its crystal structure and phase diagram. However, our understanding of this canonical compound suffers from conflict between mutually incompatible descriptions of the material's electronic structure, as derived from contradictory interpretations of the photoemission record. Here, we explore the challenge of interpretation in such experiments. By combining comprehensive photon energy- and polarization- dependent angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy (ARPES) measurements with numerical simulations, we establish…
Detailed tunneling spectroscopy of vortex core states can provide important insight to the momentum structure of the superconducting order parameter. We present a theoretical study of vortex bound states in iron-based superconductors by use of a realistic five-band model relevant to these systems, and superconductivity stabilized by spin-fluctuation generated pairing vertices yielding an $s\pm$ gap structure. The computed local density of states agrees remarkably well with both the bias dependence of the local conductance and the spatial structure of the low-bias conductance as obtained by sca…
The effect of hydrostatic pressure on the superconductivity in LiFeAs is investigated up to 1.8 GPa. The superconducting transition temperature, T_c, decreases linearly with pressure at a rate of 1.5 K/GPa. The negative pressure coefficient of T_c and the high ambient pressure T_c indicate that LiFeAs is the high-pressure analogue of the isoelectronic SrFe_2As_2 and BaFe_2As_2.
We investigate the electronic and other properties of the hypothetical compound LiFeSb in relation to superconducting LiFeAs and FeSe using density functional calculations. The results show that LiFeSb in the LiFeAs structure would be dynamically stable in the sense of having no unstable phonon modes, and would have very similar electronic and magnetic properties to the layered Fe based superconductors. Importantly, a very similar structure for the Fermi surface and a spin density wave related to but stronger than that in the corresponding As compound is found. These results are indicative of …
We present a microscopic investigation of frequently observed impurity-induced states in stoichiometric LiFeAs using low temperature scanning tunneling microscopy and spectroscopy (STM/STS). Our data reveal seven distinct well defined defects which are discernible in topographic measurements. Depending on their local topographic symmetry, we are able to assign five defect types to specific lattice sites at the Li, Fe and As positions. The most prominent result is that two different defect types have a remarkably different impact on the superconducting state. A specific and quite abundant Fe-de…
Conventional Cooper pairing arises from attractive interaction of electrons in the metallic bands. Recent experiment on Co-doped LiFeAs shows superconductivity in the insulating valence band, which is evolved from a metallic hole band upon doping. Here we examine this phenomenon by studying superconductivity in a three-orbital Hamiltonian relevant to the doped LiFeAs. We show explicitly that Cooper pairing of the insulating hole band requires a finite pairing interaction strength. For strong coupling, the superconductivity in the hole band is robust against the sink of the hole band below the …
The synthesis and properties of LiFeAs, a high-Tc Fe-based superconducting stoichiometric compound, are reported. Single crystal x-ray studies reveal that it crystallizes in the tetragonal PbFCl type (P4/nmm) with a=3.7914(7) A and c=6.364(2) A. Unlike the known isoelectronic undoped intrinsic FeAs compounds, LiFeAs does not show any spin-density wave behavior but exhibits superconductivity at ambient pressures without chemical doping. It exhibits a respectable transition temperature of Tc=18 K with electronlike carriers and a very high critical field, Hc2(0)>80 T. LiFeAs appears to be the che…
We present results of it ab initio LDA calculations of electronic structure of "next generation" layered ironpnictide High-Tc superconductor LiFeAs (Tc=18K). Obtained electronic structure of LiFeAs is very similar to recently studied ReOFeAs (Re=La,Ce,Pr,Nd,Sm) and AFe2As2 (A=Ba,Sr) compounds. Namely close to the Fermi level its electronic properties are also determined ma inly by Fe 3d-orbitals of FeAs4 two-dimensional layers. Band dispersions of LiFeAs are very similar to the LaOFeAs and BaFe2As2 systems as well as the shape of the Fe-3d density o f states and Fermi surface.
We investigate the cleaving behavior of LiFeAs and determine its surface electronic structure by detailed density functional calculations. We show that due to the neutral surface of LiFeAs after cleaving, barely any influence of the surface on the electronic states is present. Therefore the data of surface sensitive probes such as angle resolved photoemission spectroscopy (ARPES) represent to a high degree the bulk electronic structure. This we highlighted by a direct comparison of the calculations to ARPES spectra.
We observe two types of superconducting states controlled by orientations of local wrinkles on the surface of LiFeAs. Using scanning tunneling microscopy/spectroscopy, we find type-I wrinkles enlarge the superconducting gaps and enhance the transition temperature, whereas type-II wrinkles significantly suppress the superconducting gaps. The vortices on wrinkles show a C2 symmetry, indicating the strain effects on the wrinkles. A discontinuous switch of superconductivity occurs at the border between two different wrinkles. Our results demonstrate that the local strain effect could affect superc…
We study LiFeP, LiFeAs and NaFeAs in their paramagnetic metallic phase including dynamical electronic correlations within a density functional theory + slave-spin mean-field framework. The three compounds are found to lie next to the crossover between a normal and a Hund's metal, where a region of enhanced electronic compressibility that may boost superconductivity is systematically present in this type of systems. We find that LiFeP lies in the normal metallic regime, LiFeAs at the crossover, and NaFeAs is in the Hund's metal regime, which possibly explains the different experimental trends f…
We analyze the structure of the pairing interaction and superconducting gap in LiFeAs by decomposing the pairing interaction for various kz cuts into s- and d-wave components and by studying the leading superconducting instabilities. We use the ten orbital tight-binding model, derived from ab-initio LDA calculations with hopping parameters extracted from the fit to ARPES experiments. We find that the pairing interaction almost decouples between two subsets, one consists of the outer hole pocket and two electron pockets, which are quasi-2D and are made largely out of dxy orbital, and the other …
Results of resonant inelastic X-ray scattering (RIXS) measurements at Fe L-edges and electronic structure calculations of LiFeAs and NaFeAs are presented. Both experiment and theory show that in the vicinity of the Fermi energy, the density of states is dominated by contributions from Fe 3d-states. The comparison of Fe L2,3 non-resonant and resonant (excited at L2-threshold) X-ray emission spectra with spectra of LaOFeAs and CaFe2As2 show a great similarity in energy and I(L2)/I(L3) intensity ratio. The I(L2)/I(L3) intensity ratio of all FeAs-based superconductors is found to be more similar t…
We report density functional calculations of the electronic structure and Fermi surface of the BaFe$_2$As$_2$ and LiFeAs phases including doping via the virtual crystal approximation. The results show that contrary to a rigid band picture, the density of states at the Fermi energy is only weakly doping dependent and that the main effect of doping is a change in the relative sizes of the electron and hole Fermi surfaces as required by Luttinger's theory. This is a consequence of a change in As height with doping, in particular a shift of As towards Fe as holes are introduced in the Fe plane, as…
Spectroscopy of vortex bound states can provide valuable information on the structure of the superconducting order parameter. Quasiparticle wavefunctions are expected to leak out in the directions of gap minima or nodes, if they exist, and scanning tunneling spectroscopy (STS) on these low-energy states should probe the momentum dependence of the gap. Anisotropy can also arise from band structure effects, however. We perform a quasiclassical calculation of the density of states of a single vortex in an anisotropic superconductor, and show that if the gap itself is not highly anisotropic, the F…
The absence of nesting between electron and hole-pockets in LiFeAs with $T_c = 18$K attracts great attention, as an important hint to understand the pairing mechanism of Fe-based superconductors. Here, we study the five-orbital model of LiFeAs based on the recently-developed orbital-spin fluctuation theories. It is found that the experimentally observed gap structure of LiFeAs, which is a "fingerprint" of the pairing mechanism, is quantitatively reproduced in terms of the orbital-fluctuation-mediated $s_{++}$-wave state. Especially, the largest gap observed on the small two hole-pockets compos…
The superconducting compound, LiFeAs, is studied by scanning tunneling microscopy and spectroscopy. A gap map of the unreconstructed surface indicates a high degree of homogeneity in this system. Spectra at 2 K show two nodeless superconducting gaps with $Δ_1=5.3\pm0.1$ meV and $Δ_2=2.5\pm0.2$ meV. The gaps close as the temperature is increased to the bulk $T_c$ indicating that the surface accurately represents the bulk. A dip-hump structure is observed below $T_c$ with an energy scale consistent with a magnetic resonance recently reported by inelastic neutron scattering.
The lattice dynamics and the effect of pressure on superconducting LiFeAs in both nonmagnetic (NM) and striped antiferromagnetic (SAF) phases are investigated using the plane-wave pseudopotential, density-functional-based method. While the obtained electron-phonon coupling $λ$ is very small for the NM calculation, the softening of phonon in the SAF phase may lead to a large increase in $λ$. In the SAF phase, strong anisotropy of the phonon softening in the Fe plane is found to arise from different spin orders in the $x$ and $y$ directions, indicating that the phonon softening is of spin-phonon…
The electronic structure and lattice vibrational frequencies of the newly discovered superconductors, LiFeAs and NaFeAs, are calculated within density functional theory. We show that in the vicinity of the Fermi energy, the density of states is dominated by contributions from Fe 3d states. We also calculate the electron-phonon coupling strength and show that it is too weak to account for the observed values of the superconducting transition temperatures. This seems to indicate that the iron-based superconductors are not of the conventional type.
We investigate the role of non-local correlations in LiFeAs by exploring an ab-initio-derived multi-orbital Hubbard model for LiFeAs via the Two-Particle Self-Consistent (TPSC) approach. The multi-orbital formulation of TPSC approximates the irreducible interaction vertex to be an orbital-dependent constant, which is self-consistently determined from local spin and charge sum rules. Within this approach, we disentangle the contribution of local and non-local correlations in LiFeAs and show that in the local approximation one recovers the dynamical-mean field theory (DMFT) result. The compariso…
To examine the role of magnetism in superconductivity of iron-based superconductors, we first present first-principles optical calculations on three representative parent compounds: LaFeAsO, BaFe2As2 and LiFeAs. Both nonmagnetic (NM) and spin-density wave (SDW) with striped antiferromagnetic order are considered. Due to their layer structure, these compounds in NM states show anomalously large optical anisotropy with a conductivity ratio $σ_{zz}/σ{xx}$ as large as 313% in LaFeAsO and 530% in LiFeAs. Interestingly the giant optical anisotropy is significantly suppressed by SDW. On the other han…
The electronic structure and magnetic properties of LiFeAs and FeSe have been studied using hybrid exchange density functional theory. The total energies for a unit cell in LiFeAs and FeSe with different spin states including non-magnetic and spin-2 are calculated. The spin-2 configuration has the lower energy for both LiFeAs and FeSe. The computed anti-ferromagnetic exchange interactions between spins on the nearest (next nearest) neighbouring Fe atoms in LiFeAs and FeSe are approximately 14 (17) meV and 6 (13) meV respectively. The total energies of the checkerboard and stripe-type anti-ferr…
We report a de Haas-van Alphen (dHvA) oscillation study of the 111 iron pnictide superconductors LiFeAs with T_c ~18K and LiFeP with T_c~5K. We find that for both compounds the Fermi surface topology is in good agreement with density functional band-structure calculations and shows quasi-nested electron and hole bands. The effective masses generally show significant enhancement, up to ~3 for LiFeP and ~5 for LiFeAs. However, one hole Fermi surface in LiFeP shows a very small enhancement, as compared with its other sheets. This difference probably results from k-dependent coupling to spin fluct…
A major question in Fe-based superconductors remains the structure of the pairing, in particular whether it is of unconventional nature. The electronic structure near vortices can serve as a platform for phase-sensitive measurements to answer this question. By solving Bogoliubov-de Gennes equations for LiFeAs, we calculate the energy-dependent local electronic structure near a vortex for different nodeless gap-structure possibilities. At low energies, the local density of states (LDOS) around a vortex is determined by the normal-state electronic structure. However, at energies closer to the ga…
To understand the amazing variety of the superconducting states of Fe-based superconductors, we analyze the multiorbital Hubbard models for LaFeAsO and LiFeAs going beyond the random-phase approximation (RPA), by calculating the vertex correction (VC) and self-energy correction. Due to the spin+orbital mode coupling described by the VC, both orbital and spin fluctuations mutually develop, consistently with the experimental phase diagram with the orbital and magnetic orders. Due to both fluctuations, the s-wave gap function with sign-reversal ($s_{\pm}$-wave), without sign-reversal ($s_{++}$-wa…
The rich variety of iron-based superconductors and their complex electronic structure lead to a wide range of possibilities for gap symmetry and pairing components. Here we solve in the 2-Fe Brillouin zone the full frequency-dependent linearized Eliashberg equations for LiFeAs with spin-fluctuation mediated pairing interactions. The magnetic excitations are calculated with the random phase approximation on a correlated electronic structure obtained with density functional theory and dynamical mean field theory. Correlations induce long-lived local moments with orbital-dependent dynamics. The i…
Measurements of London penetration depth are a sensitive tool to study multi-band superconductivity and it has provided several important insights to the behavior of Fe-based superconductors. We first briefly review the "experimentalist - friendly" self-consistent Eilenberger model that relates the measurable superfluid density and structure of superconducting gaps. Then we focus on the \BaFe -derived materials, for which the results are consistent with 1) two distinct superconducting gaps; 2) development of strong in-plane gap anisotropy with the departure from the optimal doping; 3) appearan…
The electronic structure and physical properties of the pnictide compound families $RE$OFeAs ($RE$ = La, Ce, Pr, Nd, Sm), $A$Fe$_{2}$As$_{2}$ ($A$ = Ca, Sr, Ba, Eu), LiFeAs and FeSe are quite similar. Here, we focus on the members of the $A$Fe$_{2}$As$_{2}$ family whose sample composition, quality and single crystal growth are better controllable compared to the other systems. Using first principles band structure calculations we focus on understanding the relationship between the crystal structure, charge doping and magnetism in $A$Fe$_{2}$As$_{2}$ systems. We will elaborate on the tetragonal…
We predicted that AMgBi (A=K,Rb Cs), which have the same lattice structures as the 111 family of iron-based superconductors (Na/LiFeAs), are symmetry-protected Dirac semimetals located near the boundary of type-I and type-II Dirac semimetal phases. Doping Rb or Cs into KMgBi can drive the transition between the two phases. The materials can also be turned into Weyl semimetals and topological insulators by explicitly or spontaneously breaking time-reversal symmetry and C$_4$ lattice symmetry respectively.
Local superconducting gap structure is studied as a function of nanoscale depth in electric-field-induced surface superconductivity such as in SrTiO3. We examine solutions of Bogoliubov-de Gennes equation in two limiting confinement potential cases of electric field with and without screening effects. As unique properties different from bulk superconductivity, there appear in-gap states even for isotropic s-wave pairing, due to multiple gap structure of sub-band dependent surface superconductivity. These determine the depth-dependence of local superconductivity.
The effect of hydrostatic pressure on the electronic structures of iron pnictide superconducting compounds LiFeAs and NaFeAs through density functional theory based first principles studies are presented, using the predicted crystal structures at very high pressure by Zhang et al. [1]. The orbital selective pressure induced modifications in the partial density of states and electronic band structures reveal mixed multi-band multi-orbital nature of these compounds, with energetically degenerate dxz/dyz orbitals at ambient pressure. Due to larger hydrostatic pressures some of the electron/hole b…
The crystal structure and superconductivity of hexagonal BaPtAs are reported. Single-crystal X-ray diffraction, magnetization, electrical resistivity, and specific heat measurements were performed in this study. Two hexagonal structures with different PtAs honeycomb network stacking sequences, namely, SrPtSb- (space group $P\bar{6}m2$, $D_{3h}^1$, No. 187) and YPtAs-type ($P6_3/mmc$, $D_{6h}^4$, No. 194) structures, were identified and found to exhibit superconductivity at 2.8 and 2.1-3.0 K, respectively. In contrast, the cubic LaIrSi-type structure ($P2_13$, $T^4$, No. 198) did not exhibit su…
A new layered iron arsenide NaFeAs isostructural with the superconducting lithium analogue, displays evidence for the coexistence of superconductivity and magnetic ordering.
We investigate the superconductivity of carbon compounds with a sodalite structure, which are similar to hydrogen compounds showing the high-temperature superconductivity. A systematic analysis by first-principles calculations is carried out, including examination of mechanical and dynamic instabilities under external pressure $P$. These instabilities are classified on the phase diagram for the effective doping charge versus the lattice constant of the system. We also present the superconducting transition temperature $T_{\rm c}$ as a function of $P$ for many carbon compounds and a pure carbon…
One approach to discovering topological superconductor is establishing superconductivity based on well-identified topological insulators. However, the coexistence of superconductivity and topological state is always arcane. In this paper, we report how pressure tunes the crystal structure, electronic structure, and superconductivity in topological insulator Bi2Te2.1Se0.9. The first pressure-induced structure transition start from 8.4 GPa, followed by the structure sequence of R-3m - C2/m - C2/c - Im-3m up to 37 GPa. Superconductivity starts to present at 2.4 GPa with the Tc around 6.6 K. Moreo…
We demonstrate the emergence of superconductivity in pseudo-binary silicide SrNixSi2-x. The compound exhibits a structural phase transition from the cubic SrSi2-type structure (P4132) to the hexagonal AlB2-type structure (P6/mmm) upon substituting Ni for Si at approximately x = 0.1. The hexagonal structure is stabilized in the range of 0.1 < x < 0.7. The superconducting phase appears in the vicinity of the structural phase boundary. Ni acts as a nonmagnetic dopant, as confirmed by the Pauli paramagnetic behavior.
The electronic structure, stability, electron phonon coupling and superconductivity of the non-oxide perovskite MgCNi$_3$ are studied using density functional calculations. The band structure is dominated by a Ni $d$ derived density of states peak just below the Fermi energy, which leads to a moderate Stoner enhancement, placing MgCNi$_3$ in the range where spin fluctuations may noticeably affect transport, specific heat and superconductivity, providing a mechanism for reconciling various measures of the coupling $λ$. Strong electron phonon interactions are found for the octahedral rotation mo…
We predict a strong enhancement of the critical temperature in a conventional Bardeen-Cooper-Schrieffer (BCS) superconductor in the presence of a bosonic condensate of exciton-polaritons. The effect depends strongly on the ratio of the cutoff frequencies for phonon and exciton-polariton mediated BCS superconductivity, respectively. We also discuss a possible design of hybrid semiconductor-superconductor structures suitable for the experimental observation of such an effect.
On the basis of phenomenological Ginzburg-Landau approach we investigate the problem of order parameter nucleation in hybrid superconductor/ferromagnetic systems with a domain structure in applied external magnetic field. Both the isolated domain boundaries and periodic domain structures in ferromagnetic layers are considered. We study the interplay between the superconductivity localized at the domain walls and far from the walls and show that such interplay determines a peculiar field dependence of the critical temperature Tc. For a periodic domain structure the behavior of the upper critica…
