11 research outputs found
Interplay of Superconductivity and Fermi-Liquid Transport in Rh-Doped CaFe2As2 with Lattice-Collapse Transition
Ca(FeRh)As undergoes successive phase transitions with
increasing Rh doping in the 0 limit. The antiferromagnetic-metal phase
with orthorhombic structure at 0.00 0.020 is driven to a
superconducting phase with uncollapsed-tetragonal (ucT) structure at 0.020
0.024; a non-superconducting collapsed-tetragonal (cT) phase
takes over at 0.024. The breakdown of Fermi-liquid transport is
observed in the ucT phase above . In the adjacent cT phase,
Fermi-liquid transport is restored along with a disappearance of
superconductivity. This interplay of superconductivity and Fermi-liquid
transport suggests the essential role of magnetic fluctuations in the emergence
of superconductivity in doped CaFeAs.Comment: 11 pages, 4 figure
Gap symmetry and structure of Fe-based superconductors
The recently discovered Fe-pnictide and chalcogenide superconductors display
low-temperature properties suggesting superconducting gap structures which
appear to vary substantially from family to family, and even within families as
a function of doping or pressure. We propose that this apparent nonuniversality
can actually be understood by considering the predictions of spin fluctuation
theory and accounting for the peculiar electronic structure of these systems,
coupled with the likely 'sign-changing s-wave' (s\pm) symmetry. We review
theoretical aspects, materials properties and experimental evidence relevant to
this suggestion, and discuss which further measurements would be useful to
settle these issues.Comment: 86 pages, revie
Spectroscopic scanning tunneling microscopy insights into Fe-based superconductors
In the first three years since the discovery of Fe-based high Tc
superconductors, scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) and spectroscopy have shed
light on three important questions. First, STM has demonstrated the complexity
of the pairing symmetry in Fe-based materials. Phase-sensitive quasiparticle
interference (QPI) imaging and low temperature spectroscopy have shown that the
pairing order parameter varies from nodal to nodeless s\pm within a single
family, FeTe1-xSex. Second, STM has imaged C4 -> C2 symmetry breaking in the
electronic states of both parent and superconducting materials. As a local
probe, STM is in a strong position to understand the interactions between these
broken symmetry states and superconductivity. Finally, STM has been used to
image the vortex state, giving insights into the technical problem of vortex
pinning, and the fundamental problem of the competing states introduced when
superconductivity is locally quenched by a magnetic field. Here we give a
pedagogical introduction to STM and QPI imaging, discuss the specific
challenges associated with extracting bulk properties from the study of
surfaces, and report on progress made in understanding Fe-based superconductors
using STM techniques.Comment: 36 pages, 23 figures, 229 reference
Mapping Molecular Orientation with Phase Sensitive Vibrationally Resonant Sum-Frequency Generation Microscopy
We demonstrate a phase sensitive, vibrationally resonant sum-frequency generation (PSVR-SFG) microscope that combines high resolution, fast image acquisition speed, chemical selectivity, and phase sensitivity. Using the PSVR-SFG microscope, we generate amplitude and phase images of the second-order susceptibility of collagen I fibers in rat tail tendon tissue on resonance with the methylene vibrations of the protein. We find that the phase of the second-order susceptibility shows dependence on the effective polarity of the fibril bundles, revealing fibrous collagen domains of opposite orientations within the tissue. The presence of collagen microdomains in tendon tissue may have implications for the interpretation of the mechanical properties of the tissue. [Image: see text