de Haas-van Alphen study of the Fermi surfaces of superconducting LiFeP and LiFeAs

We report a de Haas-van Alphen oscillation study of the 111 iron pnictide superconductors LiFeAs with T(c) ≈ 18 K and LiFeP with T(c) ≈ 5 K. We find that for both compounds the Fermi surface topology is in good agreement with density functional band-structure calculations and has almost 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 fluctuations and may be the origin of the different nodal and nodeless superconducting gap structures in LiFeP and LiFeAs, respectively.     

“111”型铁基超导材料研究进展

“111”型铁基超导体系包含LiFeAs,NaFeAs和LiFeP三个组员.这三个组员的晶体结构简单,具有非极性解离面等特点,在铁基超导物理机理研究中发挥着独特的作用.本文简要介绍“111”型铁基超导体的研究进展.     

Electronic properties of novel 6 K superconductor LiFeP in comparison with LiFeAs from first principles calculations

Very recently, the new 6 K superconductor (SC) LiFeP, the first arsenic-free analog of the family of the so-called “111” FeAs SCs, was discovered. Here, based on first-principle FLAPW-GGA calculations, the band structure, density of states, Fermi surface topology, electron density distribution and effective atomic charges for the new SC LiFeP are investigated for the first time and discussed in comparison with isostructural and isoelectronic LiFeAs. In addition, the theoretical shapes of FeL X-ray emission spectra for LiFeP and LiFeAs are evaluated and compared with available experiments.     

Temperature dependence of the anisotropy parameter of the LiFeAs upper critical field in the two-band Ginzburg-Landau theory

An analytical formula is obtained for the temperature dependence of the anisotropy parameter of the upper critical field of a two-band superconductor in the context of the generalized Ginzburg-Landau theory for layered superconductors. The theoretical results are compared with the experimental data for new superconductor LiFeAs.     

Microwave surface impedance measurements of LiFeAs,LiFe(As,P) and FeSe1−xTex single crystals

We study microwave surface impedance measurements of LiFeAs, LiFe(As,P) and FeSe_1?xTe_x single crystals. The in-plane penetration depths of LiFeAs and LiFe(As,P) depend on temperature exponentially at low temperatures, which is a strong indication that these two materials have the nodeless superconducting gap. The temperature dependence of the superfluid density indicates that LiFeAs and LiFe(As,P) are multi-gap superconductors with at least two isotropic gaps. In FeSe_1?xTe_x, on the other hand, the quadratic temperature dependence of the in-plane penetration depth appears, which indicates the existence of some sort of quasiparticle excitations. In addtion, the real part of the microwave conductivity exhibits a large enhancement below T_c in all three materials, which results from the increase of the quasiparticle relaxation time, τ, below T_c.     

Band structure of a new (16–18 K) superconductor LiFeAs compared to Li<Subscript>0.5</Subscript>FeAs and LiCoAs

The band structure of a new (16–18 K) superconductor LiFeAs, as a possible first representative of the third (the so-called 111) group of phases, which, along with the groups of four-component 1111 oxyarsenides LnOFeAs and three-component 122 arsenides AFe₂As₂, belong to the family of new high-temperature (26–56 K) FeAs superconductors, has been studied using the ab initio full-potential augmented-plane-wave method and the generalized-gradient approximation. The structure, energy bands, densities of state, Fermi surface, low-temperature electron specific heat γ, and molar Pauli magnetic susceptibility for LiFeAs are discussed and compared to similar data for the systems simulating the hole (Li_0.5FeAs) and electron (LiCoAs) doping of LiFeAs.     

Striped antiferromagnetic order and electronic properties of stoichiometric LiFeAs from first-principles calculations

We use state-of-the-arts first-principles method to investigate the structural, electronic, and magnetic properties of stoichiometric LiFeAs. We optimize fully all the structures, including lattice constants and internal position parameters, for different magnetic orders. We find the magnetic ground state by comparing the total energies among all the possible magnetic orders. Our calculated lattice constants and As internal position are in good agreement with experiment. The experimental fact that no magnetic phase transition has been observed at finite temperature can be attributed to the tiny inter-layer spin coupling. Our results show that stoichiometric LiFeAs has almost the same striped antiferromagnetic spin order as other FeAs-based parent compounds and tetragonal FeSe do, which may imply that all Fe-based superconductors have the same mechanism of superconductivity.     

Penetration depths of superconducting U6X (X = Fe,Co, Mn)

The penetration depths, λ(T), of the heavy-fermion uranium-based superconductors U₆X (X = Fe, Co, Mn) have been measured as a function of temperature at ∼ 35 MHz. It was found that the temperature dependence of λ(T) for these compounds agrees well with the BCS theory. However, the values of λ(0) are large. By comparing the Slater-Pauling curve of the X elements with λ(0)^-1 for the U₆X superconductors, we have found that λ(0)^-1 is proportional to the saturation spin moments of elemental X, suggesting that there is a correlation between the superconductivity of these U₆X superconductors and the magnetic nature of the X elements.     

二维应变作用下超导薄膜LiFeAs的磁性和电子性质

基于密度泛函理论的第一性原理计算,研究了二维应变作用下LiFeAs超导薄膜的磁性结构、电子能带和态密度变化,分析了应变对其超导电性的作用.结果显示,对体系施加1%—6%的二维平面张、压应变均不改变其基态条形反铁磁性结构,费米面附近的电子态密度主要来自于Fe-3d轨道电子以及少量的As-4p电子.研究发现,与无应变情形相比,当施加压应变时,体系中Fe离子的反平行的电子自旋局域磁矩减小,薄膜反铁磁性受到抑制,费米面上电子态密度增加,超导电性来自于以反铁磁超交换耦合作用为媒介的空穴型费米面和电子型费米面间嵌套的Cooper电子对.而在张应变作用时,局域反铁磁性增强,费米面上电子态密度减小,金属性减弱,特别是张应变时费米面上空穴型能带消失, Cooper电子对出现概率显著降低,将抑制超导相变.     

Multiple andreev reflections spectroscopy of superconducting LiFeAs single crystals: Anisotropy and temperature behavior of the order parameters

The superconducting state of LiFeAs single crystals with the maximum critical temperature T _c ≈ 17 K in the 111 family has been studied in detail by multiple Andreev reflections (MAR) spectroscopy implemented by the break-junction technique. The three superconducting gaps, Δ_Γ = 5.1–6.5 meV, Δ_L = 3.8–4.8 meV, and Δ_S = 0.9–1.9 meV (at T ? T _c), as well as their temperature dependences, have been directly determined in a tunneling experiment with these samples. The anisotropy degrees of the order parameters in the k space have been estimated as <8, ～12, and ～20%, respectively. Andreev spectra have been fitted within the extended Kümmel-Gunsenheimer-Nikolsky model with allowance for anisotropy. The relative electron-boson coupling constants in LiFeAs have been determined by approximating the Δ(T) dependences by the system of the two-band Moskalenko and Suhl equations. It has been shown that the densities of states in bands forming Δ_Γ and Δ_L are approximately the same, intraband pairing dominates in this case, and the interband coupling constants are related as λ_ΓL ≈ λ_LΓ ? λ_SΓ, λ_SL.     

Probing the unconventional superconducting state of LiFeAs by quasiparticle interference

A crucial step in revealing the nature of unconventional superconductivity is to investigate the symmetry of the superconducting order parameter. Scanning tunneling spectroscopy has proven a powerful technique to probe this symmetry by measuring the quasiparticle interference (QPI) which sensitively depends on the superconducting pairing mechanism. A particularly well-suited material to apply this technique is the stoichiometric superconductor LiFeAs as it features clean, charge neutral cleaved surfaces without surface states and a relatively high T(c)～18 K. Our data reveal that in LiFeAs the quasiparticle scattering is governed by a van Hove singularity at the center of the Brillouin zone which is in stark contrast to other pnictide superconductors where nesting is crucial for both scattering and s(±) superconductivity. Indeed, within a minimal model and using the most elementary order parameters, calculations of the QPI suggest a dominating role of the holelike bands for the quasiparticle scattering. Our theoretical findings do not support the elementary singlet pairing symmetries s(++), s(±), and d wave. This brings to mind that the superconducting pairing mechanism in LiFeAs is based on an unusual pairing symmetry such as an elementary p wave (which provides optimal agreement between the experimental data and QPI simulations) or a more complex order parameter (e.g., s+id wave symmetry).     

Universal intrinsic doping behavior of in-plane dc conductivity for hole-doped high-temperature cuprate superconductors

Understanding the normal state transport properties in hole-doped high-temperature cuprate superconductors (HTCSs) is a challenging task which has been widely believed to be one of the key steps toward revealing the pairing mechanism of high-temperature superconductivity. Here, we present a true intrinsic and universal doping dependence of in-plane dc conductivity for all underdoped HTCSs. The doping dependence of in-plane dc conductivity normalized to that at optimal doping can be represented by a simple exponential formula. The doping behavior of the square of the nodal Fermi velocity derived by the high-resolution laser-based angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy in the superconducting state follows reasonably well the universal intrinsic doping behavior. Our findings suggest a commonality of the low-energy quasiparticles both in the normal and superconducting states that place a true universal and stringent constraint on the mechanism of high-temperature superconductivity for HTCSs.     

Observation of band renormalization effects in hole-doped high-Tc Superconductors

We report a systematic high-resolution angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy on high-T(c) superconductors Bi(2)Sr(2)Ca(n-1)Cu(n)O(2n+4) (n=1-3) to study the origin of many-body interactions responsible for superconductivity. For n=2 and 3, a sudden change in the energy dispersion, so called "kink", becomes pronounced on approaching (pi,0) in the superconducting state, while a kink appears only around the nodal direction in the normal state. For n=1, the kink shows no significant temperature dependence even across T(c). This could suggest that the coupling of electrons with Q=(pi,pi) magnetic mode is dominant in the superconducting state for multilayered cuprates, while the interactions at the normal state and that of single-layered cuprates have a different origin.     

关于高Tc问题的一个建议

我们建议:把超导体分成A型和B型两种。前者,λ<Λ,后者,λ>Λ。Λ的物理意义在正文中给出。本文分析表明了,有效声子谱对这两种超导体T_c的影响是不同的,因而提高它们T_c方法也是不一样的。提高A型超导体T_c的最有效方法是增大λ。提高B型超导体T_c的最有效方法是增大又λ〈ω²〉。 关键词：     

Quasi-particle transport in vortex state of nodal superconductors

The quasi-classical approach has proved very useful for studying the vortex state of nodal superconductors like d-wave superconductors in high T_c cuprates. After a brief introduction, we review our work on the thermal conductivity tensor in d-wave superconductors and f-wave superconductors.     

Exploring Majorana zero modes in iron-based superconductors

Majorana zero modes (MZMs) are Majorana-fermion-like quasiparticles existing in crystals or hybrid platforms with topologically non-trivial electronic structures. They obey non-Abelian braiding statistics and are considered promising to realize topological quantum computing. Discovery of MZM in the vortices of the iron-based superconductors (IBSs) has recently fueled the Majorana research in a way which not only removes the material barrier requiring construction of complicated hybrid artificial structures, but also enables observation of pure MZMs under higher temperatures. So far, MZMs have been observed in iron-based superconductors including FeTe_0.55Se_0.45, (Li_0.84Fe_0.16)OHFeSe, CaKFe₄As₄, and LiFeAs. In this topical review, we present an overview of the recent STM studies on the MZMs in IBSs. We start with the observation of MZMs in the vortices in FeTe_0.55Se_0.45 and discuss the pros and cons of FeTe_0.55Se_0.45 compared with other platforms. We then review the following up discovery of MZMs in vortices of CaKFe₄As₄, impurity-assisted vortices of LiFeAs, and quantum anomalous vortices in FeTe_0.55Se_0.45, illustrating the pathway of the developments of MZM research in IBSs. Finally, we give perspective on future experimental works in this field.     

Quasiparticle scattering interference in electron-doped cuprate superconductors

By considering the nonmonotonic d-wave gap effect, the energy and momentum dependence of quasiparticle scattering interference is studied in the presence of a single impurity. It is shown that the pattern of the quasiparticle scattering peaks in the full Brillouin zone of electron-doped cuprate superconductors is very different from that in the hole-doped case described by the Octet model. This difference is the result of the nonmonotonic d-wave superconducting gap in the electron-doped case. As the energy increases, the position of the local peaks in the Brillouin zone moves rapidly. In particular, the characteristic peaks of the electron-doped cuprate superconductors appear between the antinodal and nodal directions, unlike in the hole-doped case.     

Existence of Majorana fermions and topological order in nodal superconductors with spin-orbit interactions in external magnetic fields

We demonstrate that Majorana fermions exist in edges of systems and in a vortex core even for superconductors with nodal excitations such as the d-wave pairing state under a particular but realistic condition in the case with an antisymmetric spin-orbit interaction and a nonzero magnetic field below the upper critical field. We clarify that the Majorana fermion state is topologically protected in spite of the presence of bulk gapless nodal excitations, because of the existence of a nontrivial topological number. Our finding drastically enlarges target systems where we can explore the Majorana fermion state.     

Evolution of the Fermi surface of d-wave superconductors in the presence of thermal phase fluctuations

One of the most puzzling aspects of the high Tc superconductors is the appearance of Fermi arcs in the normal state of the underdoped cuprate materials. These are loci of low energy excitations covering part of the Fermi surface that suddenly appear above Tc instead of the nodal quasiparticles. Based on a semiclassical theory, we argue that partial Fermi surfaces arise naturally in a d-wave superconductor that is destroyed by thermal phase fluctuations. Specifically, we show that the electron spectral function develops a square root singularity at low frequencies for wave vectors positioned on the bare Fermi surface. We predict a temperature dependence of the arc length that can partially account for the results of recent angle resolved photoemission experiments.     

A型超导体的近似临界温度公式(Ⅰ)——μ*=0情形

本文用数值解方法从Eliashberg方程计算出超导临界温度T_c,并考察T_c对有效声子谱的依赖关系。在这个研究中,a²F(ω)被取为双δ函数谱,并允许其中的谱参数可以在很宽范围内改变。作者发现在λ<∧区域(即在T_c级数解的收敛圆外),T_c除了依赖λ和矩比外,还依赖T_c级数解的收敛半径倒数Λ;它们之间的关系是有规律的。在这些结果的启示下,本文在μ^*=0情形,用弥合数值解的方法得到一个适用于λ<Λ区域的T_c近似公式。接着,本文作者对吉光达和吴杭生的一篇文章进行了研究,指出:该文提出的超导体分类建议及其工作的主要结论是对的。但其中对决定A型超导体临界温度主要参量问题进行的分析,只适用于这样一些A型超导体,它们的收敛半径倒数Λ或者比λ₀小,或者虽比λ₀大、但λ又小于λ₀,其中λ₀是个依赖谱形状的参量,它的定义在正文中给出。对另一些A型超导体(λ₀<λ<Λ),决定T_c的主要参量不再是λ,而是δ=1/∧^0.5(ω_1/2/ω_log)^5.5λ^1.55。 关键词：