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arXiv · 0907.4657

Theory of thermal conductivity in extended-$s$ state superconductors: application to ferropnictides

V. Mishra·A. Vorontsov·P. J. Hirschfeld·I. Vekhter
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Abstract

Within a two-band model for the recently discovered ferropnictide materials, we calculate the thermal conductivity assuming general superconducting states of $A_{1g}$ ("s-wave") symmetry, considering both currently popular isotropic "sign-changing" $s$ states and states with strong anisotropy, including those which manifest nodes or deep minima of the order parameter. We consider both intra- and interband disorder scattering effects, and show that in situations where a low-temperature linear-$T$ exists in the thermal conductivity, it is not always "universal" as in d-wave superconductors. We discuss the conditions under which such a term can disappear, as well as how it can be induced by a magnetic field. We compare our results to several recent experiments.

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V. Mishra, A. Vorontsov, P. J. Hirschfeld, I. Vekhter. 2009-07-27. Theory of thermal conductivity in extended-$s$ state superconductors: application to ferropnictides. https://doi.org/10.1103/physrevb.80.224525

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