超导与自旋涨落

在常规超导体中,库珀对是由于电子与声子之间的相互作用而形成的.在此过程中,人们可以只考虑电子的电荷性质与声子之间的关联.然而在所谓的非常规超导体中,人们意识到一些其他类型的元激发也可能导致超导现象,而自旋涨落则可能是其中最重要的一种.在大多数非常规超导体中,都可以发现自旋涨落的身影.而在一些重要的体系中,包括铜基超导体、铁基超导体以及一些重费米子超导体体系等,可以确切地说,自旋涨落起到了关键的作用,尽管其相对应的超导机制仍然还不清楚.文章简单介绍了自旋涨落与超导电性之间的关联.     

量子材料大观园(3)

鹊桥仙·二月听风梅声唱晚,金陵散懒。新雨随风迷漫。早春颐指紫金山,十里峻、浮香浅浅。碧池弄暖,珠林晓涧。又是烟霞舒卷。路边桃李上寒枝,道不尽,韶华看惯。Ⅺ.铁基超导体的奇特磁结构高温超导(包括铁基超导)电子配对机制是超导物理的核心,这让多少人魂牵梦绕几十年。除了最近有很强的声音声称铜基和铁基高温超导依然是BCS机制占主导外,自旋涨落导致铁基超导配对也是一种声音,虽然超导电性跟磁性从来就不是一路人。所以,铁基超导中磁性和磁结构研究一直是被寄予厚望的主流,甚至超越对超导态本身的关注。毕竟,将超导态与磁性联系起来,是超越BCS之外的新物理。     

高温超导体电子结构和超导机理的角分辨光电子能谱研究

超导是一种奇异的宏观量子现象.100多年来,已发现的超导体主要分为两类:以金属或者合金为代表的常规超导体以及以铜氧化物和铁基高温超导体为代表的非常规超导体.常规超导体的超导机理能被BCS超导理论完美解释,但高温超导体的超导机理至今仍未达成共识,已经成为凝聚态物理领域中长期争论且充满挑战的重大科学问题.从实验上揭示非常规超导材料的微观电子结构,是理解其奇异正常态和超导电性机理、建立新理论的前提和基础.角分辨光电子能谱技术,由于可以实现对材料中电子的能量、动量和自旋的直接测量,在高温超导研究中发挥了重要的作用.本文综述了我们利用角分辨光电子能谱技术在铜氧化物和铁基高温超导体电子结构和超导机理研究中取得的一些进展,主要包括母体的电子结构、正常态的非费米液体行为、超导态的能带和超导能隙结构以及多体相互作用等.这些结果为理解铜氧化物和铁基高温超导体的物性及超导机理提供了重要的信息.     

铁基超导体中的反铁磁序和自旋动力学

类似于其他非常规超导材料,铁基高温超导电性通常出现在静态长程反铁磁序被抑制之后,并且强烈的自旋涨落始终与超导电性相伴相生,因此理解磁性相互作用是建立铁基超导微观机理的重要前提.中子散射作为研究凝聚态物质中磁性相互作用的有力工具,在揭示铁基超导电性的磁性起源方面起到了关键作用.本文系统总结了近十年来铁基超导材料的中子散射研究结果,包括铁基超导材料中的静态磁结构、磁性相变、动态磁激发、电子向列相等,并探讨它们与超导电性之间的关系.     

重费米子超导与竞争序

与其他非常规超导系列相比, 重费米子超导体往往具有丰富多样的竞争序, 超导与各种竞争序相伴而生, 电子配对与反铁磁涨落、铁磁涨落、价态涨落、电四极矩涨落等量子临界涨落密切相关, 扩充了非常规超导的研究内容. 重费米子材料中的f电子往往同时参与超导与各种竞争序的形成, 表现出局域与巡游的二重性. 重费米子二流体理论为理解重费米子超导与竞争序的关系提供了新的思路.     

新型铁基超导体角分辨光电子能谱研究

最近发现的新型122结构的铁基超导体掀起了铁基高温超导研究的又一轮热潮.文章利用角分辨光电子能谱实验手段,研究了这类新型铁基材料的电子结构、费米面拓扑和超导能隙.实验结果表明,其在布里渊区中心的能带结构及费米面与其他铁基超导体存在明显差异,并导致嵌套在粒子-空穴通道的费米面消失.另外,在布里渊区边缘的电子型费米面发现了较强的并且有各向同性的超导能隙.这些结果对可能的超导配对机制提出了严格的限制.     

铁基高温超导体电子结构的角分辨光电子能谱研究

铜氧化物超导体和铁基超导体是人类相继发现的两类高温超导家族,它们的高温超导机理是凝聚态物理领域中长期争论但悬而未决的重大问题.对铁基超导体广泛而深入的研究,以及与铜氧化物高温超导体的对比,对于发展新的量子固体理论、解决高温超导机理、探索新的超导体以及超导实际应用都具有重要意义.固体材料的宏观物性由其微观电子结构所决定,揭示高温超导材料的微观电子结构是理解高温超导电性的前提和基础.由于角分辨光电子能谱技术具有独特的同时对能量、动量甚至自旋的分辨能力,已成为探测材料微观电子结构的最直接、最有力的实验手段,在高温超导体的研究中发挥了重要作用.本文综述了在不同体系铁基超导体中费米面拓扑结构、超导能隙大小和对称性、轨道三维性和选择性、电子耦合模式等的揭示和发现,为甄别和提出铁基超导新理论、解决高温超导机理问题提供重要依据.     

中国科学技术大学高温超导物理研究新进展

在中国科学技术大学(以下简称中国科大)建校50周年之际,文章作者对近年来中国科大在高温超导物理方面的最新研究进展情况作一介绍,包括新型高温超导材料探索研究和高温超导机理实验研究.在新型高温超导材料探索研究方面,文章作者首次发现了除高温超导铜基化合物以外第一个超导温度突破麦克米兰极限(39 K)的非铜基超导体--铁基砷化物SmO1-xFxFeAs,该类材料的最高超导转变温度可达到55K;中国科大还成功地制备出大量高质量的超导化合物单晶,包括Nd2-xCexCuO4,NaxCoO2,CuxTiSe2等.在高温超导机理实验研究方面,中国科大系统地研究了SmO1-xFxFeAs体系的电输运性质给出了该体系的电子相图;发现了在电子型高温超导体中存在反常的热滞现象和电荷-自旋强烈耦合作用;在NaxCoO2体系中也开展了系列的工作,并且首次明确了电荷有序态中小自旋的磁结构问题;此外,还系统地研究了CuxTiSe2体系中电荷密度波与超导的相互关系.     

新型4d/5d基超导体的结构和物性

在强关联电子体系中,轨道、自旋和晶格等自由度之间的相互作用一直是研究的热点.这些自由度之间的竞争和共存产生了复杂新奇的物理现象,如超导现象、量子相变、自旋有序、拓扑相变、金属绝缘转变等,这些丰富的物理现象来源于不同的有序态或量子涨落之间的竞争和耦合.自旋轨道耦合作用是指粒子的自旋角动量和轨道角动量之间的相互作用,在4d/5d基化合物中,由于电子的运动速度较快,自旋轨道耦合的效应不可忽视,可能表现出与3d基化合物不同的物性.例如,在含4d/5d过渡族金属元素的超导体中,其电子配对的机制可能不同于常规的s波Bardeen-Cooper-Schrieffer超导体.本文以几种典型的4d/5d基超导体为例,对其晶体结构和超导物性及其内在联系进行了详细论述,重点探讨了阴离子共价键强弱对晶体结构、相变和超导物性的影响,希望引起相关研究者对该类超导体的重视.     

铁基超导体系基于电子关联强度的统一相图

铁基超导和铜基超导具有诸多相似性,这为建立统一的高温超导机理图像提供了可能性.然而,对铁基超导体系中无论是进行电荷掺杂、还是等价掺杂来改变化学压力,都能产生定性上类似、而细节上纷繁复杂的相图,这对建立统一的图像造成了困难.研究化学掺杂效应如何在微观上影响电子结构和超导电性,区分主导超导电性演化的主要因素和次要因素,对建立统一图像和揭示高温超导机理至关重要.本文综述了对铁基超导体系中化学掺杂效应的一系列角分辨光电子能谱研究,涵盖了基于FeAs和FeSe面的多种代表性铁基超导体系,包括异价掺杂、等价掺杂、在元胞不同位置的化学掺杂,及其对电子体系在费米面结构、杂质散射、电子关联强度等方面的影响.实验结果表明：电子关联性或能带宽度是多个铁基超导相图背后的普适参数,不同的晶格和杂质散射效应导致了并不重要的复杂细节,而费米面拓扑结构与超导电性的关联并不强.这些结果对弱耦合机理图像提出了挑战,并促使人们通过局域反铁磁交换作用配对图像在带宽演化层面上统一地理解铁基超导.     

铁基超导体的输运性质

在铁基超导体中存在着多种有序态,例如电子向列相和自旋密度波等,从而呈现出丰富的物理现象.输运性质的测量能为认识铁基超导体的低能激发提供极为有用的信息.铁砷超导体由于其电子结构的多能带特性,其电阻率和霍尔系数与温度的关系出现多样性的变化,但在正常态并没有看到有类似铜氧化物超导体的赝能隙打开等奇异行为.在空穴型掺杂的铁基超导体中观测到霍尔系数在低温下变号,对应温区的电阻率上出现一个很宽的鼓包等,可能是从非相干到相干态的转变.热电势行为也表现出与铜氧化物超导体的明显差异,比如铁基超导体的正常态热电势的绝对值反而在最佳掺杂区是最大的,这也许跟强的带间散射有关.能斯特效应表明铁基超导体在Tc以上的超导位相涨落并不明显,与铜氧化物超导体存在明显差别.在铁基超导体上所显示出来的这些反常热电性质,并没有在类似结构的镍基超导体(如LaNiAsO)上观测到,镍基超导体表现得更像一个通常的金属.这些均说明铁基超导体的奇异输运性质与其高温超导电性存在内在的关联,这些因素是建立其超导机理时需要考虑进去的.     

BaCuS_2: A Superconductor with Moderate Electron-Electron Correlation

We show that the layered-structure BaCuS₂ is a moderately correlated electron system in which the electronic structure of the CuS layer bears a resemblance to those in both cuprates and iron-based superconductors.Theoretical calculations reveal that the in-plane d-p σ^*-bonding bands are isolated near the Fermi level.As the energy separation between the d and p orbitals are much smaller than those in cuprates and iron-based superconductors,BaCuS₂ is expected to be moderately correlated.We suggest that this material is an ideal system to study the competitive/collaborative nature between two distinct superconducting pairing mechanisms,namely the conventional BCS electron-phonon interaction and the electron-electron correlation,which may be helpful to establish the elusive mechanism of unconventional high-temperature superconductivity.     

Spin fluctuations and unconventional superconducting pairing in iron-based superconductors

In this article, we review the recent theoretical works on the spin fluctuations and superconductivity in iron-based superconductors. Using the fluctuation exchange approximation and multi-orbital tight-binding models, we study the char- acteristics of the spin fluctuations and the symmetries of the superconducting gaps for different iron-based superconductors. We explore the systems with both electron-like and hole-like Fermi surfaces （FS） and the systems with only the electron-like FS. We argue that the spin-fluctuation theories are successful in explaining at least the essential part of the problems, indicating that the spin fluctuation is the common origin of superconductivity in iron-based superconductors.     

Kinetic energy driven pairing in cuprate superconductors

Pairing occurs in conventional superconductors through a reduction of the electronic potential energy accompanied by an increase in kinetic energy. In the underdoped cuprates, optical experiments show that pairing is driven by a reduction of the electronic kinetic energy. Using the dynamical cluster approximation we study superconductivity in the two-dimensional Hubbard model. We find that pairing is indeed driven by the kinetic energy and that superconductivity evolves from an unconventional state with partial spin-charge separation, to a superconducting state with quasiparticle excitations.     

Electronic phase diagram of NaFe_(1-x)Co_xAs investigated by scanning tunneling microscopy

Our recent scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) studies of the NaFe1-xCoxAs phase diagram over a wide range of dopings and temperatures are reviewed. Similar to the high-T c cuprates, the iron-based superconductors lie in close proximity to a magnetically ordered phase. Therefore, it is widely believed that magnetic interactions or fluctuations play an important role in triggering their Cooper pairings. Among the key issues regarding the electronic phase diagram are the properties of the parent spin density wave (SDW) phase and the superconducting (SC) phase, as well as the interplay between them. The NaFe1-xCoxAs is an ideal system for resolving these issues due to its rich electronic phases and the charge-neutral cleaved surface. In our recent work, we directly observed the SDW gap in the parent state, and it exhibits unconventional features that are incompatible with the simple Fermi surface nesting picture. The optimally doped sample has a single SC gap, but in the underdoped regime we directly viewed the microscopic coexistence of the SDW and SC orders, which compete with each other. In the overdoped regime we observed a novel pseudogap-like feature that coexists with superconductivity in the ground state, persists well into the normal state, and shows great spatial variations. The rich electronic structures across the phase diagram of NaFe1-xCoxAs revealed here shed important new light for defining microscopic models of the iron-based superconductors. In particular, we argue that both the itinerant electrons and local moments should be considered on an equal footing in a realistic model.     

Unconventional superconductivity

‘Conventional’ superconductivity, as used in this review, refers to electron–phonon-coupled superconducting electron pairs described by BCS theory. Unconventional superconductivity refers to superconductors where the Cooper pairs are not bound together by phonon exchange but instead by exchange of some other kind, e.g. spin fluctuations in a superconductor with magnetic order either coexistent or nearby in the phase diagram. Such unconventional superconductivity has been known experimentally since heavy fermion CeCu₂Si₂, with its strongly correlated 4f electrons, was discovered to superconduct below 0.6?K in 1979. Since the discovery of unconventional superconductivity in the layered cuprates in 1986, the study of these materials saw T_c jump to 164?K by 1994. Further progress in high-temperature superconductivity would be aided by understanding the cause of such unconventional pairing. This review compares the fundamental properties of 9 unconventional superconducting classes of materials – from 4f-electron heavy fermions to organic superconductors to classes where only three known members exist to the cuprates with over 200 examples – with the hope that common features will emerge to help theory explain (and predict!) these phenomena. In addition, three new emerging classes of superconductors (topological, interfacial – e.g. FeSe on SrTiO₃, and H₂S under high pressure) are briefly covered, even though their ‘conventionality’ is not yet fully determined.     

Feedback spin resonance in superconducting CeCu2Si2 and CeCoIn5

We show that the recently observed spin resonance modes in heavy-fermion superconductors CeCoIn5 and CeCu2Si2 are magnetic excitons originating from superconducting quasiparticles. The wave vector Q of the resonance state leads to a powerful criterion for the symmetry and node positions of the unconventional gap function. The detailed analysis of the superconducting feedback on magnetic excitations reveals that the symmetry of the superconducting gap corresponds to a singlet d_{x;{2}-y;{2}} state symmetry in both compounds. In particular this resolves the long-standing ambiguity of the gap symmetry in CeCoIn5. We demonstrate that in both superconductors the resonance peak shows a significant dispersion away from Q which can be checked experimentally. Our analysis reveals the similar origin of the resonance peaks in the two heavy-fermion superconductors and in layered cuprates.