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Article
Multi-atom quasiparticle scattering interference for superconductor energy-gap symmetry determination
Ames Laboratory Accepted Manuscripts
  • Rahul Sharma, Cornell University and University of Maryland
  • Andreas Kreisel, Universität Leipzig
  • Miguel Antonio Sulangi, University of Florida
  • Jakob Böker, Ruhr-Universität Bochum
  • Andrey Kostin, Cornell University
  • Milan P. Allan, Leiden University
  • H. Eisaki, National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology, Tsukuba
  • Anna E. Böhmer, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) and Ames Laboratory
  • Paul C. Canfield, Iowa State University and Ames Laboratory
  • Ilya Eremin, Ruhr-Universität Bochum and Kazan Federal University
  • J. C. Séamus Davis, Cornell University, University College Cork, Max-Planck Institute for Chemical Physics of Solids, and University of Oxford
  • P. J. Hirschfeld, University of Florida
  • Peter O. Sprau, Cornell University and Advanced Development Center
Publication Date
1-11-2021
Department
Ames Laboratory; Physics and Astronomy
OSTI ID+
1756481
Report Number
IS-J 10364
DOI
10.1038/s41535-020-00303-4
Journal Title
npj Quantum Materials
Abstract

Complete theoretical understanding of the most complex superconductors requires a detailed knowledge of the symmetry of the superconducting energy-gap Δαk, for all momenta k on the Fermi surface of every band α. While there are a variety of techniques for determining |Δαk|, no general method existed to measure the signed values of Δαk. Recently, however, a technique based on phase-resolved visualization of superconducting quasiparticle interference (QPI) patterns, centered on a single non-magnetic impurity atom, was introduced. In principle, energy-resolved and phase-resolved Fourier analysis of these images identifies wavevectors connecting all k-space regions where Δαk has the same or opposite sign. But use of a single isolated impurity atom, from whose precise location the spatial phase of the scattering interference pattern must be measured, is technically difficult. Here we introduce a generalization of this approach for use with multiple impurity atoms, and demonstrate its validity by comparing the Δαk it generates to the Δαk determined from single-atom scattering in FeSe where s± energy-gap symmetry is established. Finally, to exemplify utility, we use the multi-atom technique on LiFeAs and find scattering interference between the hole-like and electron-like pockets as predicted for Δαk of opposite sign.

DOE Contract Number(s)
AC02-07CH11358; JP19H05823; GBMF9457; R64897; SFI 17/RP/ 5445; DLV-788932
Language
en
Publisher
Iowa State University Digital Repository, Ames IA (United States)
Citation Information
Rahul Sharma, Andreas Kreisel, Miguel Antonio Sulangi, Jakob Böker, et al.. "Multi-atom quasiparticle scattering interference for superconductor energy-gap symmetry determination" Vol. 6 (2021) p. 7
Available at: http://works.bepress.com/paul_canfield/440/