Fully Gapped Superconducting State Based on a High Normal State Quasiparticle Density of States in Ba0.6_{0.6}K0.4_{0.4}Fe2_2As2_2 Single Crystals

We report the specific heat (SH) measurements on single crystals of hole doped $FeAs$-based superconductor $Ba_{0.6}K_{0.4}Fe_2As_2$. It is found that the electronic SH coefficient $\gamma_e(T)$ is not temperature dependent and increases almost linearly with the magnetic field in low temperature region. These point to a fully gapped superconducting state. Surprisingly the sharp SH anomaly $\Delta C/T|_{T_c}$ reaches a value of 98 $mJ/mol K^2$ suggesting a very high normal state quasiparticle density of states ($\gamma_n \approx 63 mJ/mol K^2$). A detailed analysis reveals that the $\gamma_e(T)$ cannot be fitted with a single gap of s-wave symmetry due to the presence of a hump in the middle temperature region. However, our data indicate that the dominant part of the superconducting condensate is induced by an s-wave gap with the magnitude of about 6 meV.Comment: 5 pages, 5 figure

Role of multiband effects and electron-hole asymmetry in the superconductivity and normal state properties of Ba(Fe1−x_{1-x}Cox_{x})2_{2}As2_{2}

We report a systematic investigation, together with a theoretical analysis, of the resistivity and Hall effect in single crystals of Ba(Fe$_{1-x}$Co$_{x}$)$_{2}$As$_{2}$, over a wide doping range. We find a surprisingly great disparity between the relaxation rates of the holes and the electrons, in excess of an order of magnitude in the low-doping, low-temperature regime. The ratio of the electron to hole mobilities diminishes with temperature and doping (away from the magnetically ordered state) and becomes more conventional. We also find a straightforward explanation of the large asymmetry (compared to cuprates) of the superconducting dome: in the underdoped regime the decisive factor is the competition between AF and superconductivity (SC), while in the overdoped regime the main role is played by degradation of the nesting that weakens the pairing interaction. Our results indicate that spin-fluctuations due to interband electron-hole scattering play a crucial role not only in the superconducting pairing, but also in the normal transport.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figure

Pairing symmetry and properties of iron-based high temperature superconductors

Pairing symmetry is important to indentify the pairing mechanism. The analysis becomes particularly timely and important for the newly discovered iron-based multi-orbital superconductors. From group theory point of view we classified all pairing matrices (in the orbital space) that carry irreducible representations of the system. The quasiparticle gap falls into three categories: full, nodal and gapless. The nodal-gap states show conventional Volovik effect even for on-site pairing. The gapless states are odd in orbital space, have a negative superfluid density and are therefore unstable. In connection to experiments we proposed possible pairing states and implications for the pairing mechanism.Comment: 4 pages, 1 table, 2 figures, polished versio