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Signatures of unconventional pairing in near-vortex electronic structure of LiFeAs

Cornell Affiliated Author(s)

Author

K. Lee
M.H. Fischer
Eun-Ah Kim

Abstract

A major question in Fe-based superconductors remains the structure of the pairing, in particular whether it is of unconventional nature. The electronic structure near a vortex can serve as a platform for phase-sensitive measurements to answer this question. By solving the Bogoliubov-de Gennes equations for LiFeAs, we calculate the energy-dependent local electronic structure near a vortex for different nodeless gap-structure possibilities. At low energies, the local density of states (LDOS) around a vortex is determined by the normal-state electronic structure. At energies closer to the gap value, however, the LDOS can distinguish an anisotropic s-wave gap from a conventional isotropic s-wave gap. We show within our self-consistent calculation that in addition, the local gap profile differs between a conventional and an unconventional pairing. We explain this through admixing of a secondary order parameter within Ginzburg-Landau theory. In-field scanning tunneling spectroscopy near a vortex can therefore be used as a real-space probe of the gap structure. © IOP Publishing and Deutsche Physikalische Gesellschaft.

Date Published

Journal

New Journal of Physics

Volume

15

URL

https://www.scopus.com/inward/record.uri?eid=2-s2.0-84879017931&doi=10.1088%2f1367-2630%2f15%2f5%2f053048&partnerID=40&md5=892118b78edec887b7ccbc08b6aa6f3b

DOI

10.1088/1367-2630/15/5/053048

Group (Lab)

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