Electronic properties of iron arsenic high temperature superconductors revealed by angle resolved photoemission spectroscopy (ARPES)

We present an overview of the electronic properties of iron arsenic high temperature superconductors with emphasis on low energy band dispersion, Fermi surface and superconducting gap. ARPES data is compared with full-potential linearized plane wave (FLAPW) calculations. We focus on single layer NdFeAsO_0.9F_0.1 (R1111) and two layer Ba_1?xK_xFe₂As₂ (B122) compounds. We find general similarities between experimental data and calculations in terms of character of Fermi surface pockets, and overall band dispersion. We also find a number of differences in details of the shape and size of the Fermi surfaces as well as the exact energy location of the bands, which indicate that magnetic interaction and ordering significantly affects the electronic properties of these materials. The Fermi surface consists of several hole pockets centered at Γ and electron pockets located in zone corners. The size and shape of the Fermi surface changes significantly with doping. Emergence of a coherent peak below the critical temperature T_c and diminished spectral weight at the chemical potential above T_c closely resembles the spectral characteristics of the cuprates, however the nodeless superconducting gap clearly excludes the possibility of d-wave order parameter. Instead it points to s-wave or extended s-wave symmetry of the order parameter.     

Unconventional superconductivity originating from disconnected Fermi surfaces in correlated superconductors : A case study for iron pnictides

We first generally summarize the effect of disconnected Fermi surfaces in spin fluctuation mediated superconductivity. We argue that disconnected Fermi surfaces are favorable in that the sign of the superconducting gap can be changed without nodal lines intersecting the Fermi surface. Then, as an example of actual materials that have disconnected Fermi surfaces, we focus on the iron-based high T_c superconductors. We construct a model that contains all of the five Fe d bands, and apply random-phase approximation. We find that multiple spin fluctuation modes develop due to the nesting between disconnected Fermi surfaces, and the superconductivity originating from the cooperation or competition between these multiple spin fluctuation modes depends on the lattice structure. In particular, the appearance of the Fermi surface around (π, π) in the unfolded Brillouin zone is sensitive to the pnictogen height h_Pn measured from the Fe plane, and the height can act as a switch between high T_c nodeless and low T_c nodal pairings. In the high T_c case, the superconducting gap is fully open on all of the five Fermi surfaces, but changes sign across the nesting vectors that bridge the disconnected Fermi surfaces.     

Geometry effects on the electronic properties of YBa2Cu3O7

We have performed electronic structure calculations for the high T _c compound YBa₂Cu₃O₇ with a 3% reduced unit-cell volume. The effect on band structure and Fermi surface is investigated. The predominant features are van Hoove singularities at the Fermi level. Keeping the experimental lattice parameters, nearly the same effects occur when replacing the local-density approximation by a generalized gradient correction scheme.     

Direct photoemission spectroscopy and electronic properties of in situ grown,strained high-Tc and related oxide films

We have optimized laser ablation thin film deposition and transfer procedures within synchrotron vault, specifically to perform angle-integrated and angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy (ARPES) on high-T_c and related films without cleaving the samples. However, the chain-containing phases like YBCO-123 easily loose surface oxygen and do not exhibit stable Fermi edge, hence are not suitable for ARPES studies. Direct in situ ARPES studies on strained LSCO-214 films show striking strain effects on the electronic structure. The Fermi surface (FS) of LSCO evolves with doping, yet changes even more significantly with strain. The strain changes the FS topology from hole-like to electron-like, and causes band dispersion along k_x and the Fermi level crossing before the Brillouin zone boundary, in sharp contrast to the ‘usual’ flat band remaining ≈30 meV below E_F measured on unstrained samples. The associated reduction of the density of states does not diminish the superconductivity; T_c is enhanced in all our strained samples. Implications for the evolving high-T_c theory and studies of nano-engineered film heterostructures are briefly discussed.     

Fermi surface of Ba1−xKxFe2As2 as probed by angle-resolved photoemission

Here we apply high resolution angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy (ARPES) using a wide excitation energy range to probe the electronic structure and the Fermi surface topology of the Ba_1?xK_xFe₂As₂ (T_c = 32 K) superconductor. We find significant deviations in the low energy band structure from that predicted in calculations. A set of Fermi surface sheets with unexpected topology is detected at the Brillouin zone boundary. At the X-symmetry point the Fermi surface is formed by a shallow electron-like pocket surrounded by four hole-like pockets elongated in Γ?X and Γ?Y directions.     

Near EF electronic structure of heavily boron-doped superconducting diamond

We have performed soft X-ray angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy (SXARPES) of a heavily boron-doped superconducting diamond film (T_c=7.2 K) in order to study the electronic structure near the Fermi level (E_F). Careful determination of measured momentum space that across Γ point in the Brillouin zone (BZ) and increase of an energy resolution provide further spectroscopic evidence that E_F is located at the highly dispersive diamond-like bands, indicating that holes at the top of the diamond-like valence band play an essential role for the conducting properties of the heavily boron-doped superconducting diamond for this boron-doping region (effective carrier concentration of 1.6%). The SXARPES intensities at E_F were also mapped out over BZ to obtain experimental Fermi surface sheets and compared with calculations.     

Pseudogap phenomena in ultracold atomic Fermi gases

The pairing and superfluid phenomena in a two-component ultracold atomic Fermi gas is an analogue of Cooper pairing and superconductivity in an electron system, in particular, the high Tc superconductors. Owing to the various tunable parameters that have been made accessible experimentally in recent years, atomic Fermi gases can be explored as a prototype or quantum sinmlator of superconductors. It is hoped that, utilizing such an analogy, the study of atomic Fermi gases may shed light to the mysteries of high Tc superconductivity. One obstacle to the ultimate understand- ing of high Tc superconductivity, from day one of its discovery, is the anomalous yet widespread pseudogap phenomena, for which a consensus is yet to be reached within the physics comnnmity, after over 27 years of intensive research efforts. In this article, we shall review the progress in the study of pseudogap phenomena in atomic Fermi gases in terms of both theoretical understanding and experimental observations. We show that there is strong, unambiguous evidence for the existence of a pseudogap in strongly interacting Fermi gases. In this context, we shall present a pairing fuctuation theory of the pseudogap physics and show that it is indeed a strong candidate theory for high Tc superconductivity.     

Hybridization and bonding in transition metal compound superconductors: X-ray photoemission from crystalline and amorphous Nb3Ge.

An XPS (or ESCA) study of the high T_c crystalline and the low T_c amorphous phases of Nb₃Ge indicates a change of the Nb-Ge bonding from covalent to metallic upon the amorphous to crystalline transition. The high T_c superconductivity of Nb₃Ge does not appear to stem only from an unusually high electronic density of states at the Fermi level but rather from another property such as a resonant enhancement of the electron-phonon coupling resulting from cation-anion hybridization at E_F.     

Comparative study of electronic structure of new superconductors (Sr, Ca)Pd2As2 and related compound BaPd2As2

This paper presents the comparative study of LDA calculated electronic structure of new isostructural to iron based systems superconductors (Sr, Ca)Pd₂As₂ with T _c about 1 K and similar but structurally different system BaPd₂As₂. Despite chemical formula looks similar to iron superconductors and even main structural motif is the same—layers of Fe square lattices, electronic structure of (Sr, Ca)Pd₂As₂ and BaPd₂As₂ differs from Fe (As, Se)-HTSC completely. All these systems have essentially three dimensional Fermi surfaces in contrast to Fe (As, Se) materials. The Fermi level is crossed by low intensive tails of Pd-4d and As-4p states. However, (Sr, Ca)Pd₂As₂ and BaPd₂As₂ materials have rather well developed peaks of Pd-4d (x ² ? y ²) band. Thus, by doping of about 2 holes per unit cell one can increase density of states at the Fermi level by a factor about 2.5. Since experimentally these compounds were found to be simple BCS superconductors the hole doping may considerably increase T _c . LDA calculated total densities of states at the Fermi level for stoichiometric systems perfectly agree with experimental estimates signifying rather small role of electronic correlations.     

Anomalous Tc-behavior of LaSn3 under pressure

The superconducting transition temperature T_c of LaSn₃ has been measured up to ～ 22 kbar and was observed to increase through a maximum under hydrostatic compression. The anomalous T_c-behavior is attributed to a pressure induced Fermi surface topology change.     

First-principles investigation of pressure-induced changes in structural and electronic properties of Y 2C3 superconductor

The structural and electronic properties of Y ₂C₃ superconductor under different external pressures were calculated by employing the first-principles method. This shows that the lattice constants as well as the lengths of C-C dimers decrease with the pressure. Results of band structure calculations indicate that the Fermi level advances to the bonding zone with an increase in pressure; meantime, the valence and conduction bands intersect more deeply with the Fermi level. Moreover, the Fermi level is found to shift from the valley bottom of the density of states (DOS) curve to the shoulder, which means an increase in N(E_F), and therefore the critical temperature, T_c. The calculations verify that the critical temperature is directly related to the electronic structure.     

Superconductivity in a simple model of the pseudogap state

An analysis is made of characteristics of the superconducting state (s-and d-pairing) using a simple, exactly solvable model of the pseudogap state produced by fluctuations of the short-range order (such as antiferromagnetic) based on a Fermi surface model with “hot” sections. It is shown that the superconducting gap averaged over these fluctuations is nonzero at temperatures higher than the mean-field superconducting transition temperature T _c over the entire sample. At temperatures T > T _c superconductivity evidently exists in isolated sections (“ drops”). Studies are made of the spectral density and the density of states in which superconducting characteristics exist in the range T > T _c however, in this sense the temperature T = T _c itself is no different in any way. These anomalies show qualitative agreement with various experiments using underdoped high-temperature superconducting cuprates.     

Electronic structure,topological phase transitions and superconductivity in (K,Cs)<Subscript><Emphasis Type="Italic">x</Emphasis></Subscript>Fe<Subscript>2</Subscript>Se<Subscript>2</Subscript>

We present LDA band structure of novel hole doped high temperature superconductors (T _c ∼ 30 K) K _x Fe₂Se₂ and Cs _x Fe₂Se₂ and compare it with previously studied electronic structure of isostructural FeAs superconductor BaFe₂As₂ (Ba122). We show that stoichiometric KFe₂Se₂ and CsFe₂Se₂ have rather different Fermi surfaces as compared with Ba122. However at about 60% of hole doping Fermi surfaces of novel materials closely resemble those of Ba122. In between these dopings we observe a number of topological Fermi surface transitions near the Γ point in the Brillouin zone. Superconducting transition temperature T _c of new systems is apparently governed by the value of the total density of states (DOS) at the Fermi level.     

The “pair” Fermi contour and high-temperature superconductivity

Superconducting pairing of holes with a large (on the order of doubled Fermi) total pair momentum and small relative motion momenta is considered taking into account the quasi-two-dimensional electronic structure of high-T _c cuprates with clearly defined nesting of the Fermi contour situated in an extended neighborhood of the saddle point of the electronic dispersion law (the momentum space region with a hyperbolic metric) and the arising of a spatially inhomogeneous (stripe) structure as a result of the redistribution of current carriers (holes) that restores regions with antiferromagnetic ordering. The superconducting energy gap and condensation energy were determined, and their dependences on the doping level were qualitatively studied. The energy gap was shown to exist in some hole concentration region limited on both sides. The superconducting state with a positive condensation energy appears in a narrower range of doping within this region. The reason for the arising of the superconducting state at a repulsive screened Coulomb interaction between holes is largely the redistribution of hole pairs in the momentum space related to the special features of the hyperbolic metric, which is responsible for the formation of the “pair” Fermi contour, and the renormalization of the kinetic energy of holes when the chemical potential changes because of the condensation of pairs. Hole pairs of the type under consideration exist not only in the condensate but also in the form of quasi-stationary states with very weak decay at temperatures substantially exceeding the superconducting transition temperature. The pseudogap region of the phase diagram of high-T _c cuprates is related to such states. The pairing mechanism under consideration allows not only the principal characteristics of the phase diagram but also key experimental data on high-T _c cuprate materials to be qualitatively explained.     

Single-site functional-integral approach to itinerant-electron ferromagnetism II. Thermodynamical property

Thermodynamical properties of ferromagnetic metals are discussed by using the single-site functional-integral method developed recently by the present author. It is shown that the entropy and the specific heat consist of two terms; one is due to the thermal excitations of electrons near the Fermi level, and the other arises from the disordered local magnetic moment. Numerical calculations show a huge specific-heat-peak due to magnetic contributions at the Curie temperature, T_c, and a large electronic specific heat at low temperatures and at T>T_c, which are qualitatively in agreement with experimental data of ferromagnetic metals like iron.     

Fermi surface studies in the low- and high-T c phase of the organic superconductor β-(BEDT-TTF)2I3

We report de Haas-van Alphen (dHvA) measurements of the high-T _c modification (T _c = 7 - 8 K) and Shubnikov-de Haas results of the low-T _c modification (Tc ≈ 1:4 K) of the organic superconductor β-(BEDT-TTF)₂I₃. In the high-T _c phase we find a single closed two-dimensional orbit with a dHvA frequency F ₀ = (3815±10) T and a 1/cosθ dependence as expected for a quasi two-dimensional system (where θ is the angle between the magnetic field and the direction normal to the conducting planes). The effective cyclotron mass is m _c = (4:2±0:2)m _e. The dHvA signal shows a beating pattern caused by the three-dimensional warping of the Fermi cylinder. The inter-plane transfer integral estimated from the maximum beating frequency ΔF is t _⊥/εF ≈ 1/175. At the angles where the beating disappears, i.e., ΔF ≈ 0, the oscillations have a harmonic content which is much larger than expected from the Lifshitz-Kosevich formula. In the low-T _c phase weak SdH oscillations with a frequency of F _SdH ≈ 110 T and an effective cyclotron mass m _c ≈ 1:0m _e is found. These results suggest a possible reconstruction of the Fermi surface in the low-T _c phase.     

High-temperature superconductivity in two-band materials with interband pairing

Eliashberg theory is generalized with account of the specific properties of two-band electron-phonon (EP) systems. The superconducting transition temperature T _c is examined in two-band materials, one of the representatives of which are pnictides. The strong EP coupling and the pairing within the full width of the electron band and not only in a narrow region near the Fermi surface are taken into account. It is found that the effect of the pairing of electrons belonging to different bands is crucial to the appearance of high T _c in these materials. It is shown that the high T _c value in the materials, such as pnictides, is displayed with the use of a two-band spectral function of the EP interaction derived from calculations and from tunnel experiments. The existence of specific conditions for the high T _c appearance in the two-band materials is established.     

Brillouin zone effects on the critical temperature of superconductors and some related normal metal properties

A Fermi surface passing through a set of Bragg planes gives rise to variations of several normal metal properties, e.g. the electronic density of states N(0), the magnetic susceptibility, the Seebeck coefficient, the Debye temperature and the electron-phonon interaction strength V_ph, and consequently also to variation of the critical temperature for superconductivity, T_c.This behaviour is analysed on the basis of a nearly free electron model and a comparison is made with experimental results in various alloy systems. These systems include alloys of non-transition metals and pseudo-binary alloyed compounds with Cu₃Au- and CuAl₂-type structure.The observed variations of normal metal properties are in reasonable agreement with the theoretical estimates. The variations in T_c indicate that enhancements not only of N(0) but probably also of V_ph occur near Bragg planes.     

Robustness of <Emphasis Type="Italic">s</Emphasis>-wave pairing symmetry in iron-based superconductors and its implications for fundamentals of magnetically driven high-temperature superconductivity

Based on the assumption that the superconducting state belongs to a single irreducible representation of lattice symmetry, we propose that the pairing symmetry in all measured iron-based superconductors is generally consistent with the A _1g s-wave. Robust s-wave pairing throughout the different families of iron-based superconductors at different doping regions signals two fundamental principles behind high-T _c superconducting mechanisms: (i) the correspondence principle: the short-range magnetic-exchange interactions and the Fermi surfaces act collaboratively to achieve high-T _c superconductivity and determine pairing symmetries; (ii) the magnetic-selection pairing rule: superconductivity is only induced by the magnetic-exchange couplings from the super-exchange mechanism through cation-anion-cation chemical bonding. These principles explain why unconventional high-T _c superconductivity appears to be such a rare but robust phenomena, with its strict requirements regarding the electronic environment. The results will help us to identify new electronic structures that can support high-T _c superconductivity.