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arXiv · 1603.06917

Thermal Conductivity of the Iron-Based Superconductor FeSe : Nodeless Gap with Strong Two-Band Character

P. Bourgeois-Hope·S. Chi·D. A. Bonn·R. Liang·W. N. Hardy·T. Wolf·C. Meingast·N. Doiron-Leyraud·Louis Taillefer
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Abstract

The thermal conductivity of the iron-based superconductor FeSe was measured at temperatures down to 50 mK in magnetic fields up to 17 T. In zero magnetic field, the electronic residual linear term in the T = 0 limit, κ_0/T, is vanishingly small. Application of a magnetic field H causes no increase in κ_0/T initially. Those two observations show that there are no zero-energy quasiparticles that carry heat and therefore no nodes in the superconducting gap of FeSe. The full field dependence of κ_0/T has the classic shape of a two-band superconductor, such as MgB2: it rises exponentially at very low field, with a characteristic field H* << Hc2, and then more slowly up to the upper critical field Hc2. This shows that the superconducting gap is very small on one of the pockets in the Fermi surface of FeSe.

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P. Bourgeois-Hope, S. Chi, D. A. Bonn, R. Liang, W. N. Hardy, T. Wolf, C. Meingast, N. Doiron-Leyraud, Louis Taillefer. 2016-03-22. Thermal Conductivity of the Iron-Based Superconductor FeSe : Nodeless Gap with Strong Two-Band Character. https://doi.org/10.1103/physrevlett.117.097003

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