Physics – Condensed Matter – Superconductivity
Scientific paper
2010-09-29
Nat. Commun. 2 : 219 (2011)
Physics
Condensed Matter
Superconductivity
5 pages, 3 figures. Supplementary material: 6 pages, 3 figures (1 interactive)
Scientific paper
10.1038/ncomms1223
One of the central tenets of conventional theories of superconductivity, including most models proposed for the recently discovered iron-pnictide superconductors, is the notion that only electronic excitations with energies comparable to the superconducting energy gap are affected by the transition. Here we report the results of a comprehensive spectroscopic ellipsometry study of a high-quality crystal of superconducting $\textrm{Ba}_{0.68}\textrm{K}_{0.32}\textrm{Fe}_2\textrm{As}_2$ that challenges this notion. We observe a superconductivity-induced suppression of an absorption band at an energy of $2.5\ \textrm{eV}$, two orders of magnitude above the superconducting gap energy $2\Delta\sim 20\ \textrm{meV}$. Based on density-functional calculations, this band can be assigned to transitions from As-p to Fe-d orbitals crossing the Fermi surface. We identify a related effect at the spin-density-wave transition in parent compounds of the 122 family. This suggests that As-p states deep below the Fermi level contribute to the formation of the superconducting and spin-density-wave states in the iron arsenides.
Boris A. V.
Charnukha A.
Keimer Bernhard
Lin Tai-Chia
Matiks Y.
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