Crossover from weak to strong pairing in unconventional superconductors

Research output: Contribution to journalResearch articleContributedpeer-review

Contributors

  • D. S. Inosov - , Max Planck Institute for Gravitational Physics (Albert Einstein Institute) (Author)
  • J. T. Park - , Max Planck Institute for Gravitational Physics (Albert Einstein Institute) (Author)
  • A. Charnukha - , Max Planck Institute for Gravitational Physics (Albert Einstein Institute) (Author)
  • Yuan Li - , Max Planck Institute for Gravitational Physics (Albert Einstein Institute) (Author)
  • A. V. Boris - , Loughborough University (Author)
  • B. Keimer - , Max Planck Institute for Gravitational Physics (Albert Einstein Institute) (Author)
  • V. Hinkov - , University of British Columbia (Author)

Abstract

Superconductors are classified by their pairing mechanism and the coupling strength, measured as the ratio of the energy gap, 2 Delta, to the critical temperature, T-c. We present an extensive comparison of the 2 Delta/k(B)T(c) ratios among many single-and multiband superconductors from simple metals to high-T-c cuprates and iron pnictides. Contrary to the recently suggested universality of this ratio in Fe-based superconductors, we find that the coupling in pnictides ranges from weak, near the BCS limit, to strong, as in cuprates, bridging the gap between these two extremes. Moreover, for Fe-and Cu-based materials, our analysis reveals a universal correlation between the gap ratio and T-c, which is not found in conventional superconductors and therefore supports a common unconventional pairing mechanism in both families. An important consequence of this result for ferropnictides is that the separation in energy between the excitonic spin-resonance mode and the particle-hole continuum, which determines the resonance damping, no longer appears independent of T-c.

Details

Original languageEnglish
Article number214520
Number of pages14
JournalPhysical Review B
Volume83
Issue number21
Publication statusPublished - 29 Jun 2011
Peer-reviewedYes
Externally publishedYes

External IDs

Scopus 79961110455

Keywords

Keywords

  • ANDREEV-REFLECTION SPECTROSCOPY, ANISOTROPIC SPIN FLUCTUATIONS, NEUTRON-SCATTERING, SINGLE-CRYSTALS, ENERGY GAPS, STATES, BA0.6K0.4FE2AS2, CONDUCTIVITY, TRANSITION, HEAT

Library keywords