Angle-resolved photoemission studies of the superconducting gap symmetry in Fe-based superconductors

The superconducting gap is the fundamental parameter that characterizes the superconducting state, and its symmetry is a direct consequence of the mechanism responsible for Cooper pairing. Here we discuss about angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy measurements of the superconducting gap in the Fe-based high-temperature superconductors. We show that the superconducting gap is Fermi surface dependent and nodeless with small anisotropy, or more precisely, a function of momentum. We show that while this observation is inconsistent with weak coupling approaches for superconductivity in these materials, it is well supported by strong coupling models and global superconducting gaps. We also suggest that the strong anisotropies measured by other probes sensitive to the residual density of states are not related to the pairing interaction itself, but rather emerge naturally from the smaller lifetime of the superconducting Cooper pairs that is a direct consequence of the momentum dependent interband scattering inherent to these materials.Comment: 7 pages, 5 figure

Orbital Characters Determined from Fermi Surface Intensity Patterns using Angle-Resolved Photoemission Spectroscopy

In order to determine the orbital characters on the various Fermi surface pockets of the Fe-based superconductors Ba$_{0.6}$K$_{0.4}$Fe$_{2}$As$_{2}$ and FeSe$_{0.45}$Te$_{0.55}$, we introduce a method to calculate photoemission matrix elements. We compare our simulations to experimental data obtained with various experimental configurations of beam orientation and light polarization. We show that the photoemission intensity patterns revealed from angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy measurements of Fermi surface mappings and energy-momentum plots along high-symmetry lines exhibit asymmetries carrying precious information on the nature of the states probed, information that is destroyed after the data symmetrization process often performed in the analysis of angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy data. Our simulations are consistent with Fermi surfaces originating mainly from the $d_{xy}$, $d_{xz}$ and $d_{yz}$ orbitals in these materials.Comment: 16 pages, 9 figures. Figures modified, typos corrected, appendix adde

Effects of Ru Substitution on Dimensionality and Electron Correlations in Ba(Fe_{1-x}Ru_x)_2As_2

We report a systematic angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy study on Ba(Fe$_{1-x}$Ru$_x$)$_2$As$_2$ for a wide range of Ru concentrations (0.15 $\leq$ \emph{x} $\leq$ 0.74). We observed a crossover from two-dimension to three-dimension for some of the hole-like Fermi surfaces with Ru substitution and a large reduction in the mass renormalization close to optimal doping. These results suggest that isovalent Ru substitution has remarkable effects on the low-energy electron excitations, which are important for the evolution of superconductivity and antiferromagnetism in this system.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figure

Observation of strong-coupling pairing with weakened Fermi-surface nesting at optimal hole doping in Ca0.33_{0.33}Na0.67_{0.67}Fe2_2As2_2

We report an angle-resolved photoemission investigation of optimally-doped Ca$_{0.33}$Na$_{0.67}$Fe$_2$As$_2$. The Fermi surface topology of this compound is similar to that of the well-studied Ba$_{0.6}$K$_{0.4}$Fe$_2$As$_2$ material, except for larger hole pockets resulting from a higher hole concentration per Fe atoms. We find that the quasi-nesting conditions are weakened in this compound as compared to Ba$_{0.6}$K$_{0.4}$Fe$_2$As$_2$. As with Ba$_{0.6}$K$_{0.4}$Fe$_2$As$_2$ though, we observe nearly isotropic superconducting gaps with Fermi surface-dependent magnitudes. A small variation in the gap size along the momentum direction perpendicular to the surface is found for one of the Fermi surfaces. Our superconducting gap results on all Fermi surface sheets fit simultaneously very well to a global gap function derived from a strong coupling approach, which contains only 2 global parameters.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figure

Manifestation of impurity induced s_{+-} -> s_{++} transition: multiband model for dynamical response functions

We investigate effects of disorder on the density of states, the single particle response function and optical conductivity in multiband superconductors with s_{+-} symmetry of the order parameter, where s_{+-} -> s_{++} transition may take place. In the vicinity of the transition the superconductive gapless regime is realized. It manifests itself in anomalies in the above mentioned properties. As a result, intrinsically phase-insensitive experimental methods like ARPES, tunneling and terahertz spectroscopy may be used for revealing of information about the underlying order parameter symmetry.Comment: 14 pages, 6 figure

Crystal structure, physical properties and superconductivity in AxA_{x}Fe2_2Se2_2 single crystals

We studied the correlation among structure and transport properties and superconductivity in the different $A_x$Fe$_2$Se$_2$ single crystals ($A$ = K, Rb, and Cs). Two sets of (00$l$) reflections are observed in the X-ray single crystal diffraction patterns, and arise from the intrinsic inhomogeneous distribution of the intercalated alkali atoms. The occurrence of superconductivity is closely related to the {\sl c}-axis lattice constant, and the $A$ content is crucial to superconductivity. The hump observed in resistivity seems to be irrelevant to superconductivity. There exist many deficiencies within the FeSe layers in $A_x$Fe$_2$Se$_2$, while their $T_{\rm c}$ does not change so much. In this sense, superconductivity is robust to the Fe and Se vacancies. Very high resistivity in the normal state should arise from such defects in the conducting FeSe layers. $A_x$Fe$_2$Se$_2$ ($A$ = K, Rb, and Cs) single crystals show the same susceptibility behavior in the normal state, and no anomaly is observed in susceptibility at the hump temperature in resistivity. The clear jump in specific heat for Rb$_x$Fe$_2$Se$_2$ and K$_x$Fe$_2$Se$_2$ single crystals shows the good bulk superconductivity in these crystals.Comment: 7 pages, 8 figure