Superconductivity In Iron-based Superconductors Research Articles

Emergent ferromagnetism with superconductivity in Fe(Te,Se) van der Waals Josephson junctions

Ferromagnetism and superconductivity are two key ingredients for topological superconductors, which can serve as building blocks of fault-tolerant quantum computers. Adversely, ferromagnetism and superconductivity are typically also two hostile orderings competing to align spins in different configurations, and thus making the material design and experimental implementation extremely challenging. A single material platform with concurrent ferromagnetism and superconductivity is actively pursued. In this paper, we fabricate van der Waals Josephson junctions made with iron-based superconductor Fe(Te,Se), and report the global device-level transport signatures of interfacial ferromagnetism emerging with superconducting states for the first time. Magnetic hysteresis in the junction resistance is observed only below the superconducting critical temperature, suggesting an inherent correlation between ferromagnetic and superconducting order parameters. The 0-π phase mixing in the Fraunhofer patterns pinpoints the ferromagnetism on the junction interface. More importantly, a stochastic field-free superconducting diode effect was observed in Josephson junction devices, with a significant diode efficiency up to 10%, which unambiguously confirms the spontaneous time-reversal symmetry breaking. Our work demonstrates a new way to search for topological superconductivity in iron-based superconductors for future high Tc fault-tolerant qubit implementations from a device perspective.

Iron Selenide Particles for High-Performance Supercapacitors.

Nowadays, iron (II) selenide (FeSe), which has been widely studied for years to unveil the high-temperature superconductivity in iron-based superconductors, is drawing increasing attention in the electrical energy storage (EES) field as a supercapacitor electrode because of its many advantages. In this study, very small FeSe particles were synthesized via a simple, low-cost, easily scalable, and reproducible solvothermal method. The FeSe particles were characterized using cyclic voltammetry (CV), galvanostatic charge/discharge (GCD) measurements, and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS), revealing enhanced electrochemical properties: a high capacitance of 280 F/g at 0.5 A/g, a rather high energy density of 39 Wh/kg and a corresponding power density of 306 W/kg at 0.5 A/g, an extremely high cycling stability (capacitance retention of 92% after 30,000 cycles at 1 A/g), and a rather low equivalent series resistance (RESR) of ~2 Ω.

Recent Advances in Iron-based Superconducting Coated Conductors

The discovery of high-temperature superconductivity in iron-based superconductors (IBSs) as the second class of high-temperature superconducting transition materials after the cuprates has given a considerable impact on fundamental and applied superconductivity research. Due to their superior superconducting properties, including extremely high upper critical fields, small anisotropy, advantageous grain boundary (GB) feature and relatively high critical transition temperatures, numerous studies have been performed to understand the physical nature and to promote the high-field applications. Consequently, in recent years, a stepwise progress has been made in the synthesis of coated conductors (CCs) based on IBS materials, in order to verify their application potential in a high-field regime. We focus this review on the developments and progress in IBS CCs, in particular on application-oriented properties, such as buffer layer, texture, GBs, and transport properties. Here, we provide an overview of the state-of-the-art in three representative IBS systems (11, 122 and 1111 system) widely studied in CCs, along with a detailed description of the fabrication conditions for each system by molecular beam epitaxy or pulsed laser deposition. A summary and comparison of the relations between the superconducting layers and metal tape templates will be presented. An overview and upcoming research and development outlook for IBS CCs is presented in the conclusion.

Preferred Spin Excitations in the Bilayer Iron-Based Superconductor CaK(Fe_{0.96}Ni_{0.04})_{4}As_{4} with Spin-Vortex Crystal Order.

Spin-orbit coupling (SOC) is a key to understand the magnetically driven superconductivity in iron-based superconductors, where both local and itinerant electrons are present and the orbital angular momentum is not completely quenched. Here, we report a neutron scattering study on the bilayer compound CaK(Fe_{0.96}Ni_{0.04})_{4}As_{4} with superconductivity coexisting with a noncollinear spin-vortex crystal magnetic order that preserves the tetragonal symmetry of the Fe-Fe plane. In the superconducting state, two spin resonance modes with odd and even L symmetries due to the bilayer coupling are found similar to the undoped compound CaKFe_{4}As_{4} but at lower energies. Polarization analysis reveals that the odd mode is c-axis polarized, and the low-energy spin anisotropy can persist to the paramagnetic phase at high temperature, which closely resembles other systems with in-plane collinear and c-axis biaxial magnetic orders. These results provide the missing piece of the puzzle on the SOC effect in iron-pnictide superconductors, and also establish a common picture of c-axis preferred magnetic excitations below T_{c} regardless of the details of magnetic pattern or lattice symmetry.

Induced Superconducting Transition in Ultra-Thin Iron-Selenide Films by a Mg-Coating Process.

Binary Iron selenide (FeSe) thin films have been widely studied for years to unveil the high temperature superconductivity in iron-based superconductors. However, the origin of superconducting transition in this unconventional system is still under debate and worth deep investigations. In the present work, the transition from insulator to superconductor was achieved in non-superconducting FeSe ultrathin films (~8 nm) grown on calcium fluoride substrates via a simple in-situ Mg-coating by a pulsed laser deposition technique. The Mg-coated FeSe film with an optimized amount of Mg exhibited a superconducting critical temperature as 9.7 K and an upper critical field as 30.9 T. Through systematic characterizations on phase identification, carrier transport behavior and high-resolution microstructural features, the revival of superconductivity in FeSe ultrathin films is mostly attributed to the highly crystallized FeSe and extra electron doping received from external Mg-coating process. Although the top few FeSe layers are incorporated with Mg, most FeSe layers are intact and protected by a stable magnesium oxide layer. This work provides a new strategy to induce superconductivity in FeSe films with non-superconducting behavior, which might contribute to a more comprehensive understanding of iron-based superconductivity and the benefit to downstream applications such as magnetic resonance imaging, high-field magnets and electrical cables.

The Role of Orbital Nesting in the Superconductivity of Iron-Based Superconductors

We analyze the magnetic excitations and the spin-mediated superconductivity in iron-based superconductors within a low energy model that operates in the band basis, but fully incorporates the orbital character of the spin excitations. We show how the orbital selectivity, encoded in our low energy description, simplifies substantially the analysis and allows for analytical treatments, while retaining all the main features of both spin excitations and gap functions computed using multiorbital models. Importantly, our analysis unveils the orbital matching between the hole and electron pockets as the key parameter to determine the momentum dependence and the hierarchy of the superconducting gaps, instead of the Fermi surface matching, as in the common nesting scenario.

Revealing the A1g-type strain effect on superconductivity and nematicity in FeSe thin flake* *Project supported by the National Key R&D Program of China (Grant Nos. 2017YFA0303000 and 2016YFA0300201), the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 11888101), the Strategic Priority Research Program of Chinese Academy of Sciences (Grant No. XDB25000000), and the Anhui Initiative in Quantum Information Technologies (Grant

The driving mechanism of nematicity and its twist with superconductivity in iron-based superconductors are still under debate. Recently, a dominant B1g-type strain effect on superconductivity is observed in underdoped iron-pnictides superconductors Ba(Fe1–x Co x )2As2, suggesting a strong interplay between nematicity and superconductivity. Since the long-range spin order is absent in FeSe superconductor, whether a similar strain effect could be also observed or not is an interesting question. Here, by utilizing a flexible film as substrate, we successfully achieve a wide-range-strain tuning of FeSe thin flake, in which both the tensile and compressive strain could reach up to ∼0.7%, and systematically study the strain effect on both superconducting and nematic transition (T c and T s) in the FeSe thin flake. Our results reveal a predominant A1g-type strain effect on T c. Meanwhile, T s exhibits a monotonic anti-correlation with T c and the maximum T c reaches to 12 K when T s is strongly suppressed under the maximum compressive strain. Finally, in comparison with the results in the underdoped Ba(Fe1–x Co x )2As2, the absence of B1g-type strain effect in FeSe further supports the role of stripe-type spin fluctuations on superconductivity. In addition, our work also supports that the orbital degree of freedom plays a key role to drive the nematic transition in FeSe.

Vortex bound states and Majorana zero mode in electron-doped FeSe-based high-temperature superconductor

As a novel quantum state in condensed matter physics, Majorana zero mode has become a popular research topic at present because of its potential value in topological quantum computing. Theory predicts that Majorana zero mode appears in the vortex core of the topological superconductor as a unique bound state. However, due to various factors such as the existence of conventional low energy bound states or impurity states, it is difficult to identify the Majorana zero mode and to put it into the specific applications. Nowadays, it is still urgent to find a suitable topological superconducting system and identify the clean Majorana zero mode in experiment. In this paper, we study the vortex states of electron-doped iron-selenium-based superconductors (Li, Fe)OHFeSe and single-layer FeSe/SrTiO<sub>3</sub> with extremely high energy resolution STM. There exists a robust and clean Majorana zero mode in the free vortex core of (Li, Fe)OHFeSe, which has the quantized conductance. As for single-layer FeSe/SrTiO<sub>3</sub> film, it has only conventional Caroli-de Gennes-Matricon (CdGM) bound states without zero energy mode. These experimental results provide a suitable platform for further studying the physical properties of Majorana zero mode, and also shed light on the source of topological superconductivity in iron-based superconductors.

Discovery of an insulating parent phase in single-layer FeSe/SrTiO3 films

The single-layer FeSe/SrTiO3 (FeSe/STO) films have attracted much attention because of their simple crystal structure, distinct electronic structure and record high superconducting transition temperature (Tc). The origin of the dramatic Tc enhancement in single-layer FeSe/STO films and the dichotomy of superconductivity between single-layer and multiple-layer FeSe/STO films are still under debate. Here we report a comprehensive high resolution angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy and scanning tunneling microscopy/spectroscopy measurements on the electronic structure evolution with doping in single-layer and multiple-layer FeSe/STO films. We find that the single-layer FeSe/STO films have a distinct parent phase and a route of doping evolution to superconductivity that are fundamentally different from multiple-layer FeSe/STO films. The parent phase of the single-layer FeSe/STO films is insulating, and its doping evolution is very similar to that of doping a Mott insulator in cuprate superconductors. In multiple-layer FeSe/STO films, high-Tc superconductivity occurs by suppressing the nematic order in the parent compound with electron doping. The single-layer FeSe/STO films represent the first clear case in the iron-based superconductors that the parent compound is an insulator. Our observations of the unique parent state and doping evolution in the single-layer FeSe/STO films provide key insight in understanding its record high-Tc superconductivity. They also provide a new route of realizing superconductivity in iron-based superconductors that is common in high temperature cuprate superconductors.

In-plane p-wave coherence length in iron-based superconductors

High-temperature superconductivity in iron-based layered compounds discovered by Hosono group (Kamihara et al. 2006 J. Am. Chem. Soc.128 10012) is fascinating physical phenomenon which still has many unanswered questions. One of these questions is the superconducting gap symmetry in iron-based superconductors (IBS), for which the most agreed concept is multiple-band s-wave symmetry. Recently, an alternative concept of single-band p-wave symmetry has been proposed. To disprove/reaffirm the latter concept, in this paper we analyse temperature dependent in-plane coherence length, ξab(T), in FeSe, FeSe1-xTex, Ba(Fe1-x(Co/Ni)x)2As2 and Ca10(Pt4As8)((Fe1−xPtx)2As2)5 in order to extract the gap-to-critical-temperature ratio, 2Δ(0)/kBTc, and the specific-heat-jump ratio, ΔC/C, in these compounds. In the result, we report that deduced ratios are in a good agreement with the concept of single-band p-wave superconductivity in iron-based superconductors.

Isostructural Spin-Density-Wave and Superconducting Gap Anisotropies in Iron-Arsenide Superconductors.

When passing through a phase transition, electronic system saves energy by opening energy gaps at the Fermi level. Delineating the energy gap anisotropy provides insights into the origin of the interactions that drive the phase transition. Here, we report the angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy (ARPES) study on the detailed gap anisotropies in both the tetragonal magnetic and superconducting phases in Sr_{1-x}Na_{x}Fe_{2}As_{2}. First, we found that the spin-density-wave (SDW) gap is strongly anisotropic in the tetragonal magnetic phase. The gap magnitude correlates with the orbital character of Fermi surface closely. Second, we found that the SDW gap anisotropy is isostructural to the superconducting gap anisotropy regarding to the angular dependence, gap minima locations, and relative gap magnitudes. Our results indicate that the superconducting pairing interaction and magnetic interaction share the same origin. The intraorbital scattering plays an important role in constructing these interactions resulting in the orbital-selective magnetism and superconductivity in iron-based superconductors.

Anomalous spectral weight transfer in the nematic state of iron-selenide superconductor**Project supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant Nos. 11888101, 91421107, and 11574004) and the National Key Research and Development Program of China (Grant Nos. 2016YFA0301003 and 2018YFA0305602).

Nematic phase intertwines closely with high-Tc superconductivity in iron-based superconductors. Its mechanism, which is closely related to the pairing mechanism of superconductivity, still remains controversial. Comprehensive characterization of the electronic state reconstruction in the nematic phase is thus crucial. However, most experiments focus only on the reconstruction of band dispersions. Another important characteristic of electronic state, the spectral weight, has not been studied in details so far. Here, we studied the spectral weight transfer in the nematic phase of FeSe0.9S0.1 using angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy and in-situ detwinning technique. There are two elliptical electron pockets overlapping with each other orthogonally at the Brillouin zone corner. We found that, upon cooling, one electron pocket loses spectral weight and fades away, while the other electron pocket gains spectral weight and becomes pronounced. Our results show that the symmetry breaking of the electronic state is manifested by not only the anisotropic band dispersion but also the band-selective modulation of the spectral weight. Our observation completes our understanding of the nematic electronic state, and put strong constraints on the theoretical models. It further provides crucial clues to understand the gap anisotropy and orbital-selective pairing in iron-selenide superconductors.

P-wave superconductivity in iron-based superconductors

The possibility of p-wave pairing in superconductors has been proposed more than five decades ago, but has not yet been convincingly demonstrated. One difficulty is that some p-wave states are thermodynamically indistinguishable from s-wave, while others are very similar to d-wave states. Here we studied the self-field critical current of NdFeAs(O,F) thin films in order to extract absolute values of the London penetration depth, the superconducting energy gap, and the relative jump in specific heat at the superconducting transition temperature, and find that all the deduced physical parameters strongly indicate that NdFeAs(O,F) is a bulk p-wave superconductor. Further investigation revealed that single atomic layer FeSe also shows p-wave pairing. In an attempt to generalize these findings, we re-examined the whole inventory of superfluid density measurements in iron-based superconductors and show quite generally that single-band weak-coupling p-wave superconductivity is exhibited in iron-based superconductors.

Topological quantum states of matter in iron-based superconductors: from concept to material realization.

We review recent progress in the exploration of topological quantum states of matter in iron-based superconductors. In particular, we focus on the non-trivial topology existing in the band structures and superconducting states of iron’s 3d orbitals. The basic concepts, models, materials and experimental results are reviewed. The natural integration between topology and high-temperature superconductivity in iron-based superconductors provides great opportunities to study topological superconductivity and Majorana modes at high temperature.

Evidence of nodal gap structure in the basal plane of the FeSe superconductor

Identifying the symmetry of the wave function describing the Cooper pairs is pivotal in understanding the origin of high-temperature superconductivity in iron-based superconductors. Despite nearly a decade of intense investigation, the answer to this question remains elusive. Here we use the muon spin rotation/relaxation (muSR) technique to investigate the underlying symmetry of the pairing state of the FeSe superconductor, the basic building block of all iron-chalcogenide superconductors. Contrary to earlier muSR studies on powders and crystals, we show that while the superconducting gap is most probably anisotropic but nodeless along the crystallographic c-axis, it is nodal in the ab-plane, as indicated by the linear increase of the superfluid density at low temperature. We further show that the superconducting properties of FeSe display a less pronounced anisotropy than expected.

Interplay between nematic fluctuation and superconductivity in a two-orbital Hubbard model: a quantum Monte Carlo study

To understand the interplay between nematic fluctuation and superconductivity in iron-based superconductors, we performed a systematic study of the realistic two-orbital Hubbard model at intermedium correlation regimes by using the constrained-path quantum Monte Carlo method. Our numerical results showed that the on-site nematic interaction induces a strong enhancement of nematic fluctuations at various momentums, especially at (). Simultaneously, it was found that the on-site nematic interaction suppresses the antiferromagnetic order and long-range electron pairing correlations for dominant pairing channels. Our findings suggest that on-site nematic fluctuation seems to compete with superconductivity in iron-based superconductors.

Hedgehog Spin-Vortex Crystal Antiferromagnetic Quantum Criticality in CaK(Fe_{1-x}Ni_{x})_{4}As_{4} Revealed by NMR.

Two ordering states, antiferromagnetism and nematicity, have been observed in most iron-based superconductors (SCs). In contrast to those SCs, the newly discovered SC CaK(Fe_{1-x}Ni_{x})_{4}As_{4} exhibits an antiferromagnetic (AFM) state, called hedgehog spin-vortex crystal (SVC) structure, without nematic order, providing the opportunity for the investigation into the relationship between spin fluctuations and SC without any effects of nematic fluctuations. Our ^{75}As nuclear magnetic resonance studies on CaK(Fe_{1-x}Ni_{x})_{4}As_{4} (0≤x≤0.049) revealed that CaKFe_{4}As_{4} is located close to a hidden hedgehog SVC AFM quantum-critical point (QCP). The magnetic QCP without nematicity in CaK(Fe_{1-x}Ni_{x})_{4}As_{4} highlights the close connection of spin fluctuations and superconductivity in iron-based SCs. The advantage of stoichiometric composition also makes CaKFe_{4}As_{4} an ideal platform for further detailed investigation of the relationship between magnetic QCP and superconductivity in iron-based SCs without disorder effects.

Observation of iron d-orbitals modifications in superconducting FeSe by Raman spectra study

We have studied the Raman spectra of superconducting FeSe and non-superconducting Cu-doped FeSe crystals at different temperatures. The spectral range covers the phonon modes at low frequency regime to electronic Raman scattering at high frequency regime, up to 2000 cm−1. A hardening in frequency of B1g mode, which is related to the spin-phonon coupling is observed. At high frequency region, our results on superconducting FeSe crystal show that the dzx and dyz orbitals of Fe split at ∼130 K and then become closer to achieve balance as temperature decreases. This result indicates that a modification of d-orbital electron state of iron happens at temperature much higher than the structural transition, implicating a precursor order in iron-based superconductor. In comparison with non-superconducting Cu0.03Fe0.97Se crystal, our observations suggest that the orbital modification could be an important clue for understanding the mechanism of superconductivity in iron-based superconductors.

Nodal multigap superconductivity in KCa2Fe4As4F2

We find evidence that the newly discovered Fe-based superconductor KCa$_2$Fe$_4$As$_4$F$_2$ ($T_c~=~33.36(7)$~K) displays multigap superconductivity with line nodes. Transverse field muon spin rotation ($\mu$SR) measurements show that the temperature dependence of the superfluid density does not have the expected behavior of a fully-gapped superconductor, due to the lack of saturation at low temperatures. Moreover, the data cannot be well fitted using either single band models or a multiband $s$-wave model, yet are well described by two-gap models with line nodes on either one or both of the gaps. Meanwhile the zero-field $\mu$SR results indicate a lack of time reversal symmetry breaking in the superconducting state, but suggest the presence of magnetic fluctuations. These results demonstrate a different route for realizing nodal superconductivity in iron-based superconductors. Here the gap structure is drastically altered upon replacing one of the spacer layers, indicating the need to understand how the pairing state is tuned by changes of the asymmetry between the pnictogens located either side of the Fe planes.

Nematic fluctuations in iron-based superconductors studied by resistivity change under uniaxial pressure

Antiferromagnetic, nematic and superconducting phases have been widely found in iron-based superconductors. The study on their relationships is thus crucial for understanding the low-energy physics and high-temperature superconductivity. The so-called nematic phase represents a spontaneous in-plane rotational symmetry breaking of the electronic states, which results in strong in-plane anisotropic properties. We have developed a uniaxial pressure device, which enables us to obtain nematic susceptibility by studying the resistivity change under uniaxial pressure at low temperature. In this paper, we brief two of our recent researches on nematic fluctuations in iron-based superconductors. The first research shows the presence of a nematic quantum critical point in BaFe2-xNixAs2, which exhibits several characteristics, including the zero mean-field nematic transition temperature x=0.11, broad hump feature in the nematic susceptibility in overdoped samples, strongest nematic susceptibility along the (100) direction at x=0.11, and the divergence of zero-temperature nematic susceptibility at x=0.11 for uniaxial pressure along both the (110) and (100) directions. We further study the nematic susceptibility in many other iron-based superconductors and find that the ordered moment at zero temperature linearly scales with nematic Curie constant, which is obtained from the Curie-Weiss-like temperature dependence of nematic susceptibility in these materials. Accordingly, we propose a universal phase diagram for iron-based superconductors, where superconductivity is achieved by suppressing the long-range antiferromagnetic order in a hypothetical parent compound though the enhancement of nematic fluctuations by doping, including both carrier doping and isovalent doping. Our results suggest that nematic fluctuations play a very important role in both the antiferromagnetism and superconductivity in iron-based superconductors.