Model of the Electronic Structure of Electron-Doped Iron-Based Superconductors: Evidence for Enhanced Spin Fluctuations by Diagonal Electron Hopping

Abstract

We present a theoretical understanding of the superconducting phase diagram of the electron-doped iron pnictides. We show that, besides the Fermi surface nesting, a peculiar motion of electrons, where the next nearest neighbor (diagonal) hoppings between iron sites dominate over the nearest neighbor ones, plays an important role in the enhancement of the spin fluctuation and thus superconductivity. In the highest $T_c$ materials, the crossover between the Fermi surface nesting and this "prioritized diagonal motion" regime occurs smoothly with doping, while in relatively low $T_c$ materials, the two regimes are separated and therefore results in a double dome $T_c$ phase diagram.