FeSe/SrTiO3高温超导体中的电子条纹相

单层FeSe/SrTiO₃中的界面超导增强是近年来高温超导领域的重要发现.该体系中SrTiO₃衬底对FeSe的超导增强机制已被广泛研究,其调控作用主要表现为两个方面:电荷掺杂和界面电声耦合.然而,关于FeSe薄膜本身的电子特性研究还不够充分.本文介绍该体系超导增强机制的新进展:FeSe薄膜中的电子条纹相及其与超导的关联.通过扫描隧道显微镜结合分子束外延生长技术,对不同厚度的FeSe薄膜进行了系统研究.我们发现FeSe薄膜中电子倾向于排成条纹状结构,并观测到该条纹相随层厚变化显现出从短程到长程的演化.条纹相是一种电子液晶态,它源于薄层FeSe中被增强的电子关联作用.表面电子掺杂一方面会减弱FeSe薄膜中的电子关联作用,逐渐抑制条纹相;另一方面会诱导超导相变,而剩余的条纹相涨落会对超导电性带来额外增强.我们的结果加深了对低维界面超导体系的认识,也揭示了FeSe薄膜本征的特异性,完善了对FeSe/SrTiO₃超导增强机制的理解.     

Observation of Coulomb Gap and Enhanced Superconducting Gap in Nano-Sized Pb Islands Grown on SrTiO3

We report high-resolution scanning tunneling microscopy(STM)study of nano-sized Pb islands grown on SrTiO3,where three distinct types of gaps with different energy scales are revealed.At low temperature,we find that the superconducting gap(△s)in nano-sized Pb islands is significantly enhanced from the one in bulk Pb,while there is no essential change in superconducting transition temperature Tc,giving rise to a larger BCS ratio 2△s/kBTc^8.31 and implying stronger electron-phonon coupling.The stronger coupling can originate from the interface electron-phonon interactions between Pb islands and SrTiO3.As the superconducting gap is totally suppressed under applied magnetic field,the Coulomb gap with apparent V-shape emerges.Moreover,the size of Coulomb gap(Ac)depends on the lateral size of Pb islands(R)with △c-1/R^035,indicating that quantum size effect can significantly influence electronic correlations.Our experimental results shall shed important light on the interplay among superconductivity,quantum size effect and correlations in nano-sized strong-coupling superconductors.