Tuning electronic correlations in transition metal pnictides: Chemistry beyond the valence count

The effects of electron-electron correlations on the low-energy electronic structure and their relationship with unconventional superconductivity are central aspects in the research on iron-based pnictide superconductors. Here we use soft x-ray angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy to study how electronic correlations evolve in different chemically substituted iron pnictides. We find that correlations are intrinsically related to the effective filling of the correlated orbitals, rather than to the filling obtained by valence counting. Combined density functional theory and dynamical mean-field theory calculations capture these effects, reproducing the experimentally observed trend in the correlation strength. The occupation-driven trend in the electronic correlation reported in our paper supports and extends the recently proposed connection between cuprate and pnictide phase diagrams

Quantum Self-Consistent Ab-Initio Lattice Dynamics

The Quantum Self-Consistent Ab-Initio Lattice Dynamics package (QSCAILD) is a python library that computes temperature-dependent effective 2nd and 3rd order interatomic force constants in crystals, including anharmonic effects. QSCAILD’s approach is based on the quantum statistics of a harmonic model. The program requires the forces acting on displaced atoms of a solid as an input, which can be obtained from an external code based on density functional theory, or any other calculator. This article describes QSCAILD’s implementation, clarifies its connections to other methods, and illustrates its use in the case of the SrTiO_3 cubic perovskite structure

Electronic Band Structure of BaCo_{2}As_{2}: A Fully Doped Ferropnictide Analog with Reduced Electronic Correlations

We report an investigation with angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy of the Fermi surface and electronic band structure of BaCo_{2}As_{2}. Although its quasinesting-free Fermi surface differs drastically from that of its Fe-pnictide cousins, we show that the BaCo_{2}As_{2} system can be used as an approximation to the bare unoccupied band structure of the related BaFe_{2-x}Co_{x}As_{2} and Ba_{1-x}K_{x}Fe_{2}As_{2} compounds. However, our experimental results, in agreement with dynamical-mean-field-theory calculations, indicate that electronic correlations are much less important in BaCo_{2}As_{2} than in the ferropnictides. Our findings suggest that this effect is due to the increased filling of the electronic 3d shell in the presence of significant Hund’s exchange coupling