arXiv subjects

Cong-Cong Lou

Publications and source records attributed to Cong-Cong Lou.

5 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2026

Intrinsic translational symmetry-breaking charge stripes in underdoped iron pnictides

Despite being well established in cuprates, an intrinsic translational symmetry-breaking charge order has not been clearly identified in iron-based superconductors. Using spectroscopic-imaging scanning tunneling microscopy on epitaxial Ca(Fe1-xCox)2As2 (x = 0 ~ 0.055) thin films, we observe smectic, near-commensurate charge-stripe order in the underdoped regime that intervenes between the nematic parent phase and optimally doped superconductivity. Distinct from the bidirectional checkerboard-like order in cuprates, these charge stripes are unidirectional along the antiferromagnetic Fe-Fe bond direction and are accompanied by a van Hove singularity near the Fermi level, inherited from the Fermi surface reconstruction driven by intertwined antiferromagnetic and nematic correlations. Both local and global suppression of the charge-stripe instability enhance superconductivity, tunable via epitaxial strain and Co doping. These results establish charge-stripe order as an intermediate electronic phase in iron pnictides and reveal a coherent pathway from nematicity to superconductivity. Our findings highlight charge ordering as a unifying element across different families of high-temperature superconductors.

cond-mat.supr-con↗

arXiv2026

Intertwined Charge Stripes and Majorana Zero Modes in An Iron-Based Superconductor

In type-II superconductors, magnetic fields modulate the amplitude and phase of the superconducting order parameter, forming quantized vortices where superconductivity is locally suppressed and exotic bound states or competing electronic orders emerge. Using spectroscopic-imaging scanning tunneling microscopy on epitaxial Ba(Fe$_{0.94}Co$_{0.06})$_2$As$_2$ films, we discover an incommensurate charge-stripe order aligned with the Fe-Fe bond direction. These charge modulations become strongly enhanced at the vortex core and extend far into the vortex halo. Strikingly, the charge order modulates Andreev bound states of vortices at non-zero energies, producing abelian vortices with half-odd-integer level quantization and non-abelian vortices with integer-quantized core states that host a Majorana zero mode. The distinct vortex types are distinguished by the registry of their centers relative to the charge-stripe pattern and remain robust in ultrathin (2.5-unit-cell) films. Our findings reveal a density-wave-textured vortex matter and provide fresh insights into intertwined phenomena in iron-based superconductors.

cond-mat.supr-con↗

arXiv2025

Atomic-scale imaging of electronic nematicity in ferropnictides

Electronic nematicity, a correlated state characterized by broken rotational symmetry, has been recognized as a ubiquitous feature intertwined with unconventional electron pairing in various iron-based superconductors. Here we employ spectroscopic-imaging scanning tunneling microscopy to visualize atomic-scale electronic nematicity directly on FeAs planes of a prototypical ferropnictide BaFe$_2$As$_2$. Spatially, the nematic order appears as 4$a_{\textrm{Fe}}$-spaced stripes ($a_{\textrm{Fe}} \sim $ 0.28 nm is the in-plane Fe-Fe distance) within homogeneously and orthogonally oriented nano-domains. The energy-resolved conductance maps reveal a pronounced energy-dependence of the nematic order parameter that experiences a sign change at approximately 30 meV. This characteristic behavior coincides with energy-dependent orbital splitting previously identified in momentum space, but is remarkably visualized in real space for the first time in our study. Moreover, the electronic nematicity exhibits pronounced sensitivity to single impurities and is notably suppressed by cobalt substitution for Fe atoms, promoting optimal superconductivity when nematic fluctuations are strongest. Our results provide pivotal experimental insights for developing a microscopic model of nematic order, thus paving the way to study its complex relationship with unconventional superconductivity.

cond-mat.supr-con↗

arXiv2025

Full-Gap Superconductivity in BaAs/Ferropnictide Heterostructures

Interfacial interactions often promote the emergence of unusual phenomena in two-dimensional systems, including high-temperature superconductivity. Here, we report the observation of full-gap superconductivity with a maximal spectroscopic temperature up to 26 K in a BaAs monolayer grown on ferropnictide Ba(Fe$_{1-x}$Co$_x$)$_2$As$_2$ (abbreviated as BFCA) epitaxial films. The superconducting gap remains robust even when the thickness of underlying BFCA is reduced to the monolayer limit, in contrast to the rapid suppression of $T_\textrm{c}$ in standalone BFCA thin films. We reveal that the exceptional crystallinity of the BaAs/BFCA heterostructures, featured by their remarkable electronic and geometric uniformities, is crucial for the emergent full-gap superconductivity with mean-field temperature dependence and pronounced bound states within magnetic vortices. Our findings open up new avenues to unravel the mysteries of unconventional superconductivity in ferropnictides and advance the development of FeAs-based heterostructures.

cond-mat.supr-con↗

arXiv2024

Imaging half-unit-cell Cooper-pair density waves in monolayer 1T$^{\prime}$-MoTe$_2$

Unconventional superconductors that spontaneously break space-group symmetries of their underlying crystal lattice are distinguished by spatial modulations of the superconducting order parameter. These states have recently captured significant attention in various strongly correlated materials, where the breaking of translational or intra-unit-cell symmetries results in the emergence of pair density waves with wavelengths extending across one or multiple unit cells. Here, we employ a spectroscopic-imaging scanning tunneling microscope to identify robust half-unit-cell modulations of the superconducting gap magnitude, coherence strength and subgap states in tunable 1T$^{\prime}$-MoTe$_2$ monolayer. The modulations are oriented perpendicular to the zigzag Mo chains and coexist with three-unit-cell primary pair density wave modulations along the Mo chains, both of which attenuate with increasing temperature and the application of external magnetic fields. Importantly, we find that the superconductivity modulations are strongly linked to unconventional electron pairing mechanisms, which significantly deviate from the Cooper pairing observed in traditional Bardeen-Cooper-Schrieffer superconductors. Our results advance the knowledge of Cooper-pair density modulations and the intricate interplay with other symmetry-breaking states in strongly correlated superconductors.

cond-mat.supr-con↗