Enhancement of electron–phonon coupling due to increased magnetism and applied hydrostatic pressure in FeSe

Abstract

Inspired by the parabolic trend of the superconducting transition temperature (Tc ) of bulk FeSe under hydrostatic pressure, we investigated the effect of magnetism and hydrostatic pressure on the electron–phonon coupling (EPC) in FeSe using density-functional perturbation theory. We found that both magnetism and hydrostatic pressure enhanced EPC. The enhancement of the EPC is mainly attributed to phonon softening and deformation potential induced by magnetism, rather than Fermi surface nesting. Furthermore, we investigated the effect of spin fluctuations on superconductivity by applying the random phase approximation method. A possible application of our results to the phase diagram of FeSe under hydrostatic pressure was discussed, and we demonstrated that when EPC and spin fluctuations are both considered, a parabolic superconducting Tc may be obtained, providing a plausible explanation for the phase of FeSe under hydrostatic pressure.