A strongly inhomogeneous superfluid in an iron-based superconductor

Cho, D; Bastiaans, K.M; Chatzopoulos, D.; Gu, G D.; Allan, M.P.

doi:10.1038/s41586-019-1408-8

Title: A strongly inhomogeneous superfluid in an iron-based superconductor

Journal Article · 31 May 2019 · Nature (London)

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-019-1408-8 · OSTI ID:1513222

Cho, D ^[1]; Bastiaans, K.M ^[1]; Chatzopoulos, D. ^[1];

^[2]; Allan, M.P. ^[1]

Leiden Univ. (Netherlands)
Brookhaven National Lab. (BNL), Upton, NY (United States)

Among the mysteries surrounding unconventional, strongly correlated superconductors is the possibility of spatial variations in their superfluid density. We enable atomic-resolution Josephson scanning tunneling microscopy to reveal a strongly inhomogeneous superfluid in the iron-based superconductor FeTe_0.55Se_0.45. By simultaneously measuring the topographic and electronic properties, we find that this inhomogeneity in the superfluid density is not caused by structural disorder or strong inter-pocket scattering, and does not correlate with variations in Cooper pair-breaking gap. Instead, we see a clear spatial correlation between superfluid density and quasiparticle strength, putting the iron-based superconductors on equal footing with the cuprates and demonstrating that locally, the quasiparticles are sharpest when the superconductivity is strongest. When repeated at different temperatures, our method could further help elucidate what local and global mechanisms limit the critical temperature in unconventional superconductors.

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Research Organization:: Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNL), Upton, NY (United States)

Sponsoring Organization:: USDOE Office of Science (SC), Basic Energy Sciences (BES)

Grant/Contract Number:: SC0012704

OSTI ID:: 1513222

Report Number(s):: BNL-211609-2019-JAAM

Journal Information:: Nature (London), Vol. 571, Issue 7766; ISSN 0028-0836

Publisher:: Nature Publishing GroupCopyright Statement

Country of Publication:: United States

Language:: English

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