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Gassner S, Weber CS, Claassen M. Light-induced switching between singlet and triplet superconducting states. Nat Commun 2024; 15:1776. [PMID: 38413590 PMCID: PMC10899631 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-024-45949-x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/30/2023] [Accepted: 02/08/2024] [Indexed: 02/29/2024] Open
Abstract
While the search for topological triplet-pairing superconductivity has remained a challenge, recent developments in optically stabilizing metastable superconducting states suggest a new route to realizing this elusive phase. Here, we devise a testable theory of competing superconducting orders that permits ultrafast switching to an opposite-parity superconducting phase in centrosymmetric crystals with strong spin-orbit coupling. Using both microscopic and phenomenological models, we show that dynamical inversion symmetry breaking with a tailored light pulse can induce odd-parity (spin triplet) order parameter oscillations in a conventional even-parity (spin singlet) superconductor, which when driven strongly can send the system to a competing minimum in its free energy landscape. Our results provide new guiding principles for engineering unconventional electronic phases using light, suggesting a fundamentally non-equilibrium route toward realizing topological superconductivity.
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Affiliation(s)
- Steven Gassner
- Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, 19104, USA.
| | - Clara S Weber
- Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, 19104, USA
- Institut für Theorie der Statistischen Physik, RWTH Aachen and JARA - Fundamentals of Future Information Technology, D-52056, Aachen, Germany
| | - Martin Claassen
- Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, 19104, USA.
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The Role of Orbital Nesting in the Superconductivity of Iron-Based Superconductors. CONDENSED MATTER 2021. [DOI: 10.3390/condmat6030034] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/16/2022]
Abstract
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.
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He G, Li D, Jost D, Baum A, Shen PP, Dong XL, Zhao ZX, Hackl R. Raman Study of Cooper Pairing Instabilities in (Li_{1-x}Fe_{x})OHFeSe. PHYSICAL REVIEW LETTERS 2020; 125:217002. [PMID: 33274977 DOI: 10.1103/physrevlett.125.217002] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/20/2020] [Accepted: 10/15/2020] [Indexed: 06/12/2023]
Abstract
We studied the electronic Raman spectra of (Li_{1-x}Fe_{x})OHFeSe as a function of light polarization and temperature. In the B_{1g} spectra alone we observe the redistribution of spectral weight expected for a superconductor and two well-resolved peaks below T_{c}. The nearly resolution-limited peak at 110 cm^{-1} (13.6 meV) is identified as a collective mode. The peak at 190 cm^{-1} (23.6 meV) is presumably another collective mode since the line is symmetric and its energy is significantly below the gap energy observed by single-particle spectroscopies. Given the experimental band structure of (Li_{1-x}Fe_{x})OHFeSe, the most plausible explanations include conventional spin-fluctuation pairing between the electron bands and the incipient hole band and pairing between the hybridized electron bands. The absence of gap features in A_{1g} and B_{2g} symmetry favors the second case. Thus, in spite of various differences between the pnictides and chalcogenides, this Letter demonstrates the proximity of pairing states and the importance of band structure effects in the Fe-based compounds.
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Affiliation(s)
- G He
- Walther Meissner Institut, Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften, 85748 Garching, Germany
| | - D Li
- Beijing National Laboratory for Condensed Matter Physics, Institute of Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100190, China
- School of Physical Sciences, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China
| | - D Jost
- Walther Meissner Institut, Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften, 85748 Garching, Germany
- Fakultät für Physik E23, Technische Universität München, 85748 Garching, Germany
| | - A Baum
- Walther Meissner Institut, Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften, 85748 Garching, Germany
| | - P P Shen
- Beijing National Laboratory for Condensed Matter Physics, Institute of Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100190, China
- School of Physical Sciences, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China
| | - X L Dong
- Beijing National Laboratory for Condensed Matter Physics, Institute of Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100190, China
- School of Physical Sciences, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China
- Songshan Lake Materials Laboratory, Dongguan, Guangdong 523808, China
| | - Z X Zhao
- Beijing National Laboratory for Condensed Matter Physics, Institute of Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100190, China
- School of Physical Sciences, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China
- Songshan Lake Materials Laboratory, Dongguan, Guangdong 523808, China
| | - R Hackl
- Walther Meissner Institut, Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften, 85748 Garching, Germany
- Fakultät für Physik E23, Technische Universität München, 85748 Garching, Germany
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Lazarević N, Hackl R. Fluctuations and pairing in Fe-based superconductors: light scattering experiments. JOURNAL OF PHYSICS. CONDENSED MATTER : AN INSTITUTE OF PHYSICS JOURNAL 2020; 32:413001. [PMID: 32272462 DOI: 10.1088/1361-648x/ab8849] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/14/2019] [Accepted: 04/09/2020] [Indexed: 06/11/2023]
Abstract
Inelastic scattering of visible light (Raman effect) offers a window into properties of correlated metals such as spin, electron and lattice dynamics as well as their mutual interactions. In this review we focus on electronic and spin excitations in Fe-based pnictides and chalcogenides, in particular but not exclusively superconductors. After a general introduction to the basic theory including the selection rules for the various scattering processes we provide an overview over the major experimental results. In the superconducting state below the transition temperatureTcthe pair-breaking effect can be observed, and the gap energies may be derived and associated with the gaps on the electron and hole bands. In spite of the similarities of the overall band structures the results are strongly dependent on the family and may even change qualitatively within one family. In some of the compounds strong collective modes appear belowTc. In Ba1-xKxFe2As2, which has the most isotropic gap of all Fe-based superconductors, there are indications that these modes are exciton-like states appearing in the presence of a hierarchy of pairing tendencies. The strong in-gap modes observed in Co-doped NaFeAs are interpreted in terms of quadrupolar orbital excitations which become undamped in the superconducting state. The doping dependence of the scattering intensity in Ba(Fe1-xCox)2As2is associated with a nematic resonance above a quantum critical point and interpreted in terms of a critical enhancement at the maximalTc. In the normal state the response from particle-hole excitations reflects the resistivity. In addition, there are strongly temperature-dependent contributions from presumably critical fluctuations in the energy range ofkBTwhich can be compared to the elastic properties. Currently it is not settled whether the fluctuations observed by light scattering are related to spin or charge. Another controversy relates to putative two-magnon excitations, typically in the energy range below 0.5 eV. Whereas this response presumably originates from charge excitations in most of the Fe-based compounds theory and experiment suggest that the excitations in the 60 meV range in FeSe stem from localized spins in a nearly frustrated system.
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Affiliation(s)
- N Lazarević
- Center for Solid State Physics and New Materials, Institute of Physics Belgrade, University of Belgrade, Pregrevica 118, 11080 Belgrade, Serbia
| | - R Hackl
- Walther Meissner Institut, Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften, 85748 Garching, Germany
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Xu B, Cappelluti E, Benfatto L, Mallett BPP, Marsik P, Sheveleva E, Lyzwa F, Wolf T, Yang R, Qiu XG, Dai YM, Wen HH, Lobo RPSM, Bernhard C. Scaling of the Fano Effect of the In-Plane Fe-As Phonon and the Superconducting Critical Temperature in Ba_{1-x}K_{x}Fe_{2}As_{2}. PHYSICAL REVIEW LETTERS 2019; 122:217002. [PMID: 31283343 DOI: 10.1103/physrevlett.122.217002] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/18/2018] [Indexed: 06/09/2023]
Abstract
By means of infrared spectroscopy, we determine the temperature-doping phase diagram of the Fano effect for the in-plane Fe-As stretching mode in Ba_{1-x}K_{x}Fe_{2}As_{2}. The Fano parameter 1/q^{2}, which is a measure of the phonon coupling to the electronic particle-hole continuum, shows a remarkable sensitivity to the magnetic and structural orderings at low temperatures. Most strikingly, at elevated temperatures in the paramagnetic tetragonal state we observe a linear correlation between 1/q^{2} and the superconducting critical temperature T_{c}. Based on theoretical calculations and symmetry considerations, we identify the relevant interband transitions that are coupled to the Fe-As mode. In particular, we show that a sizable xy orbital component at the Fermi level is fundamental for the Fano effect and, thus, possibly also for the superconducting pairing.
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Affiliation(s)
- B Xu
- University of Fribourg, Department of Physics and Fribourg Center for Nanomaterials, Chemin du Musée 3, CH-1700 Fribourg, Switzerland
| | - E Cappelluti
- Istituto di Struttura della Materia, CNR, 34149 Trieste, Italy
| | - L Benfatto
- ISC-CNR and Department of Physics, Sapienza University of Rome, P. le A. Moro 5, 00185 Rome, Italy
| | - B P P Mallett
- University of Fribourg, Department of Physics and Fribourg Center for Nanomaterials, Chemin du Musée 3, CH-1700 Fribourg, Switzerland
- The Photon Factory, Department of Physics, University of Auckland, 38 Princes Street, Auckland 1010, New Zealand
| | - P Marsik
- University of Fribourg, Department of Physics and Fribourg Center for Nanomaterials, Chemin du Musée 3, CH-1700 Fribourg, Switzerland
| | - E Sheveleva
- University of Fribourg, Department of Physics and Fribourg Center for Nanomaterials, Chemin du Musée 3, CH-1700 Fribourg, Switzerland
| | - F Lyzwa
- University of Fribourg, Department of Physics and Fribourg Center for Nanomaterials, Chemin du Musée 3, CH-1700 Fribourg, Switzerland
| | - Th Wolf
- Institute of Solid State Physics, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, Postfach 3640, Karlsruhe 76021, Germany
| | - R Yang
- Beijing National Laboratory for Condensed Matter Physics, Institute of Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100190, China
| | - X G Qiu
- Beijing National Laboratory for Condensed Matter Physics, Institute of Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100190, China
| | - Y M Dai
- National Laboratory of Solid State Microstructures and Department of Physics, Nanjing University, Nanjing 210093, China
| | - H H Wen
- National Laboratory of Solid State Microstructures and Department of Physics, Nanjing University, Nanjing 210093, China
| | - R P S M Lobo
- LPEM, ESPCI Paris, PSL University, CNRS, F-75005 Paris, France
- Sorbonne Université, CNRS, LPEM, F-75005 Paris, France
| | - C Bernhard
- University of Fribourg, Department of Physics and Fribourg Center for Nanomaterials, Chemin du Musée 3, CH-1700 Fribourg, Switzerland
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