The London penetration depth in single crystals of Ba(Fe_{1-x}Co_x)_2As_2 at various doping levels

The London penetration depth $\lambda(T)$ has been measured in single crystals of Ba(Fe$_{1-x}$Co$_{x}$)$_{2}$As$_{2}$ using the tunnel diode resonator technique. The measured doping levels of $x=$~0.038, 0.047, 0.058, 0.074 and 0.10 range from underdoped to overdoped concentrations. The measurements have shown that the density of carriers participating in superconductivity decreases sharply in the underdoped regime, but the penetration depth as a function of temperature exhibits a robust power law, $\Delta\lambda(T)\sim T^{n}$, for all measured dopings, with $n$ between 2 and 2.5. We discuss the implications of these results and possible interpretations of such robust behavior

Effects of Disorder in FeSe : An Ab Initio Study

Using the coherent-potential approximation, we have studied the effects of excess Fe, Se-deficiency, and substitutions of S, Te on Se sub-lattice and Co, Ni and Cu on Fe sub-lattice in FeSe. Our results show that (i) a small amount of excess Fe substantially disorders the Fe-derived bands while Se-deficiency affects mainly the Se-derived bands, (ii) the substitution of S or Te enhances the possibility of Fermi surface nesting, specially in FeSe$_{0.5}$Te$_{0.5}$, in spite of disordering the Se-derived bands, (iii) the electron doping through Co, Ni or Cu disorders the system and pushes down the Fe-derived bands, thereby destroying the possibility of Fermi surface nesting. A comparison of these results with the rigid-band, virtual-crystal and supercell approximations reveals the importance of describing disorder with the coherent-potential approximation.Comment: Redone VCA calculations, and some minor changes. (Accepted for publication in Journal of Physics:Condensed Matter

A Twisted Ladder: relating the Fe superconductors to the high TcT_c cuprates

We construct a 2-leg ladder model of an Fe-pnictide superconductor and discuss its properties and relationship with the familiar 2-leg cuprate model. Our results suggest that the underlying pairing mechanism for the Fe-pnictide superconductors is similar to that for the cuprates.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figure

Electronic structure and possible pseudogap behavior in iron based superconductors

Starting from the simplified analytic model of electronic spectrum of iron - pnictogen (chalcogen) high - temperature superconductors close to the Fermi level, we discuss the influence of antiferromagneting (AFM)scattering both for stoichiometric case and the region of possible short - range order AFM fluctuations in doped compounds. Qualitative picture of the evolution of electronic spectrum and Fermi surfaces (FS) for different dopings is presented, with the aim of comparison with existing and future ARPES experiments. Both electron and hole dopings are considered and possible pseudogap behavior connected with partial FS "destruction" is demonstrated, explaining some recent experiments.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figures, published versio

Magnetic fluctuations and itinerant ferromagnetism in two-dimensional systems with van Hove singularities

We use the quasistatic approach to analyze the criterion of ferromagnetism for two-dimensional (2D) systems with the Fermi level near Van Hove singularities (VHS) of the electronic spectrum. It is shown that the spectrum of spin excitations (paramagnons) is positively defined when the interaction I between electrons and paramagnons, which corresponds to the Hubbard on-site repulsion U, is sufficiently large. The critical interactions I_c and U_c remain finite at Van Hove filling and exceed considerably their values obtained from the Stoner criterion due to incommensurate spin fluctuations which are important near the ferromagnetic quantum phase transition. Combining the quasistatic approximation and the equation-of -motion method for the Green functions we obtain the results for the electronic self-energy to first order in the inverse number of spin components.Comment: This is an extended version of the paper in Sov. Phys. JETP, misprints are correcte

Identifying the pairing symmetry in the Sr2RuO4 superconductor

We have analyzed heat capacity and thermal conductivity measurements of Sr2RuO4 in the normal and superconducting state and come to the conclusion that an order parameter with nodal lines on the Fermi surface is required to account for the observed low-temperature behavior. A gapped order parameter is inconsistent with the reported thermodynamic and transport data. Guided by a strongly peaked dynamical susceptibility along the diagonals of the Brillouin zone in neutron scattering data, we suggest a spin-fluctuation mechanism that would favor the pairing state with the gap maxima along the zone diagonals (such as for a d_{xy} gap). The most plausible candidates are an odd parity, spin-triplet, f-wave pairing state, or an even parity, spin-singlet, d-wave state. Based on our analysis of possible pairing functions we propose measurements of the ultrasound attenuation and thermal conductivity in the magnetic field to further constrain the list of possible pairing states.Comment: 7 pages, 5 figures; updated list of references and extended introduction; to appear in Phys. Rev. B (Oct. 2000

Striped antiferromagnetism and electronic structures of SrFeAsF and their implications

We investigate structural, magnetic, and electronic properties of SrFeAsF as a new parent for superconductors using state-of-the-art density-functional theory method. Calculated results show that striped antiferromagnetic order is the magnetic ground state in the Fe layer and interlayer magnetic interaction is tiny. Calculated As and Sr positions are in agreement with experiment. There are only two uniaxially-dispersed bands near the Fermi level. The valent charge is mainly in the Fe and F layers, and the magnetic moment is confined to the Fe atoms. Inter-Fe-spin couplings is due to superexchange through As atoms. These are useful to understanding the SrFeAsF and should have helpful implications to doped samples.Comment: 5 pages with figures include

Droplet-like Fermi surfaces in the anti-ferromagnetic phase of EuFe2_2As2_2, an Fe-pnictide superconductor parent compound

Using angle resolved photoemission it is shown that the low lying electronic states of the iron pnictide parent compound EuFe$_2$As$_2$ are strongly modified in the magnetically ordered, low temperature, orthorhombic state compared to the tetragonal, paramagnetic case above the spin density wave transition temperature. Back-folded bands, reflected in the orthorhombic/ anti-ferromagnetic Brillouin zone boundary hybridize strongly with the non-folded states, leading to the opening of energy gaps. As a direct consequence, the large Fermi surfaces of the tetragonal phase fragment, the low temperature Fermi surface being comprised of small droplets, built up of electron and hole-like sections. These high resolution ARPES data are therefore in keeping with quantum oscillation and optical data from other undoped pnictide parent compounds.Comment: 4 figures, 6 page

Microwave response of superconducting pnictides: extended s±s_{\pm} scenario

We consider a two-band superconductor with relative phase $\pi$ between the two order parameters as a model for the superconducting state in ferropnictides. Within this model we calculate the microwave response and the NMR relaxation rate. The influence of intra- and interband impurity scattering beyond the Born and unitary limits is taken into account. We show that, depending on the scattering rate, various types of power law temperature dependencies of the magnetic field penetration depth and the NMR relaxation rate at low temperatures may take place.Comment: 11 pages, 5 figure

Angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy of the cuprate superconductors

This paper reviews the most recent ARPES results on the cuprate superconductors and their insulating parent and sister compounds, with the purpose of providing an updated summary of the extensive literature in this field. The low energy excitations are discussed with emphasis on some of the most relevant issues, such as the Fermi surface and remnant Fermi surface, the superconducting gap, the pseudogap and d-wave-like dispersion, evidence of electronic inhomogeneity and nano-scale phase separation, the emergence of coherent quasiparticles through the superconducting transition, and many-body effects in the one-particle spectral function due to the interaction of the charge with magnetic and/or lattice degrees of freedom. The first part of the paper introduces photoemission spectroscopy in the context of strongly interacting systems, along with an update on the state-of-the-art instrumentation. The second part provides a brief overview of the scientific issues relevant to the investigation of the low energy electronic structure by ARPES. The rest of the paper is devoted to the review of experimental results from the cuprates and the discussion is organized along conceptual lines: normal-state electronic structure, interlayer interaction, superconducting gap, coherent superconducting peak, pseudogap, electron self energy and collective modes. Within each topic, ARPES data from the various copper oxides are presented.Comment: Reviews of Modern Physics, in press. A HIGH-QUALITY pdf file is available at http://www.physics.ubc.ca/~damascel/RMP_ARPES.pd