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Hiroshi Kontani

Publications and source records attributed to Hiroshi Kontani.

At least 91 records · Page 5Linked to original sources
arXiv2012

Impurity-Induced Electronic Nematic State in Iron-Pnictide Superconductors

We propose that impurity-induced electronic nematic state is realized above the orthorhombic structure transition temperature $T_S$ in iron-pnictide superconductors. In the presence of strong orbital fluctuations near $T_S$, it is theoretically revealed that a single impurity induces non-local orbital order with $C_2$-symmetry, consistently with recent STM/STS measurements. Each impurity-induced $C_2$ orbital order aligns along a-axis by applying tiny uniaxial pressure along b-axis. In this impurity-induced nematic phase, the resistivity shows sizable in-plane anisotropy ($ρ_b/ρ_a \sim 2$) even above $T_S$, actually observed in various "detwinned" samples. The present study indicates the existence of strong orbital fluctuations in iron-pnictide superconductors.

cond-mat.str-el↗
arXiv2012

Self-Consistent Vertex Correction Analysis for Iron-Based Superconductors: Mechanism of Coulomb-Interaction-Driven Orbital Fluctuations

We study the mechanism of orbital/spin fluctuations due to multiorbital Coulomb interaction in iron-based superconductors, going beyond the random-phase-approximation. For this purpose, we develop a self-consistent vertex correction (SC-VC) method, and find that multiple orbital fluctuations in addition to spin fluctuations are mutually emphasized by the "multimode interference effect" described by the VC. Then, both the antiferro-orbital and ferro-orbital (=nematic) fluctuations simultaneously develop for $J/U \sim 0.1$, both of which contribute to the s-wave superconductivity. Especially, the ferro-orbital fluctuations give the orthorhombic structure transition as well as the softening of shear modulus $C_{66}$.

cond-mat.supr-con↗
arXiv2012

Effect of inelastic scattering on the nuclear magnetic relaxation rate 1/T1T in iron-based superconductors

We present a microscopic study of the nuclear magnetic relaxation rate 1/T1 based on the five-orbital model for iron-based superconductors. We mainly discuss the effect of the "inelastic" quasi-particle damping rate γ due to many-body interaction on the size of the coherence peak, for both s++ and s+- wave superconducting states. We focus on Ba(Fe1-xCox)2As2, and systematically evaluate γ in the normal state from the experimental resistivity, from optimally to over-doped compounds. Next, γ in the superconducting state is calculated microscopically based on the second order perturbation theory. In optimally doped compounds (Tc ~ 30 K), it is revealed that the coherence peak on 1/T1T is completely suppressed due to large γ for both s++ and s+- wave states. On the other hand, in heavily over doped compounds with Tc < 10 K, the coherence peak could appear for both pairing states, since γ at Tc is quickly suppressed in proportion to Tc^2. By making careful comparison between theoretical and experimental results, we conclude that it is difficult to discriminate between s++ and s+- wave states from the present experimental results.

cond-mat.supr-con↗
arXiv2012

Superconductivity suppression of Ba0.5K0.5Fe2-2xM2xAs2 single crystals by substitution of transition-metal (M = Mn, Ru, Co, Ni, Cu, and Zn)

We investigated the doping effects of magnetic and nonmagnetic impurities on the single-crystalline p-type Ba0.5K0.5Fe2-2xM2xAs2 (M = Mn, Ru, Co, Ni, Cu and Zn) superconductors. The superconductivity indicates robustly against impurity of Ru, while weakly against the impurities of Mn, Co, Ni, Cu, and Zn. However, the present Tc suppression rate of both magnetic and nonmagnetic impurities remains much lower than what was expected for the s\pm-wave model. The temperature dependence of resistivity data is observed an obvious low-T upturn for the crystals doped with high-level impurity, which is due to the occurrence of localization. Thus, the relatively weak Tc suppression effect from Mn, Co, Ni, Cu, and Zn are considered as a result of localization rather than pair-breaking effect in s\pm-wave model.

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arXiv2011

Neutron-Inelastic-Scattering Peak by Dissipationless Mechanism in the s++ -wave State in Iron-based Superconductors

We investigate the neutron scattering spectrum in iron pnictides based on the random-phase approximation in the five-orbital model with a realistic superconducting (SC) gap, Delta=5meV. In the normal state, the neutron spectrum is suppressed by large inelastic quasi-particle (QP) scattering rate gamma* ~ Delta. In the fully-gapped s-wave state without sign reversal (s++), a hump-shaped enhancement appears in the neutron spectrum just above 2Delta, since the inelastic QP scattering is prohibited by the SC gap. That is, the hump structure is produced by the dissipationless QPs for Ek<3Delta. The obtained result is more consistent with experimental spectra, compared to the results of our previous paper with Delta=50meV. On the other hand, both height and weight of the resonance peak in the fully-gapped s-wave states with sign reversal (s+-) are much larger than those observed in experiments. We conclude that experimentally observed broad spectral peak in iron pnictides is created by the present "dissipationless mechanism" in the s++ -wave state.

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arXiv2011

Origin of Orthorhombic Transition, Magnetic Transition, and Shear Modulus Softening in Iron Pnictide Superconductors: Analysis based on the Orbital Fluctuation Theory

The main features in iron-pnictide superconductors are summarized as (i) the orthorhombic transition accompanied by remarkable softening of shear modulus, (ii) high-Tc superconductivity close to the orthorhombic phase, and (iii) stripe-type magnetic order induced by orthorhombicity. To present a unified explanation for them, we analyze the multiorbital Hubbard-Holstein model with Fe-ion optical phonons based on the orbital fluctuation theory. In the random-phase-approximation (RPA), a small electron-phonon coupling constant ($λ~ 0.2$) is enough to produce large orbital (=charge quadrupole) fluctuations. The most divergent susceptibility is the $O_{xz}$-antiferro-quadrupole (AFQ) susceptibility, which causes the s-wave superconductivity without sign reversal (s_{++}-wave state). At the same time, divergent development of $O_{x2-y2}$-ferro-quadrupole (FQ) susceptibility is brought by the "two-orbiton process" with respect to the AFQ fluctuations, which is absent in the RPA. The derived FQ fluctuations cause the softening of $C_{66}$ shear modulus, and its long-range-order not only triggers the orthorhombic structure transition, but also induces the instability of stripe-type antiferro-magnetic state. In other words, the condensation of composite bosons made of two orbitons gives rise to the FQ order and structure transition. The theoretically predicted multi-orbital-criticality presents a unified explanation for abovementioned features of iron pnictide superconductors.

cond-mat.supr-con↗
arXiv2011

Reply to Comment on "Neutron-Inelastic-Scattering Peak by Dissipationless Mechanism in the $s_{++}$-wave State in Iron-based Superconductors" [arXiv:1106.2376] by Y. Nagai and K. Kuroki

This article is a reply to the comment by Nagai and Kuroki [arXiv:1106.2376] for our unpublished paper in arXiv [arXiv:1105.6233]. Contrary to their claim, we certainly obtain a large hump structure at $q=(π,0)$ in the $s_{++}$-wave state in iron pnictides due to the ``dissipationless mechanism'', even when similar parameters used by Nagai and Kuroki are employed.

cond-mat.supr-con↗
arXiv2011

Linear decrease of critical temperature with increasing Zn substitution in the iron-based superconductor BaFe1.89-2xZn2xCo0.11As2

The nonmagnetic impurity effect is studied on the Fe-based BaFe1.89Co0.11As2 superconductor (Tc = 25 K) with Zn substitution for Fe up to 8 at. %, which is achieved by means of high-pressure and high-temperature heating. Tc decreases almost linearly with increasing the Zn content and disappears at ~8 atomic %, being different in the shared phenomenology of the early Zn doping studies, where Tc decreases little. The Tc decreasing rate, however, remains much lower (3.63 K/%) than what is expected for the s(+-)-wave model, implying the model is unlikely. Another symmetry model such as the non-sign reversal s-wave model may better account for the result.

cond-mat.supr-con↗
arXiv2011

Emergence of Fully-Gapped $s_{++}$-wave and Nodal d-wave States Mediated by Orbital- and Spin-Fluctuations in Ten-Orbital Model for KFe$_2$Se$_2$

We study the superconducting state in newly discovered high-Tc superconductor K$_x$Fe$_2$Se$_2$ based on the ten-orbital Hubbard-Holstein model without hole-pockets. When the Coulomb interaction is large, spin-fluctuation mediated d-wave state appears due to the nesting between electron-pockets. Interestingly, the symmetry of the body-centered tetragonal structure in K$_x$Fe$_2$Se$_2$ requires the existence of nodes in the d-wave gap, although fully-gapped d-wave state is realized in the case of simple tetragonal structure. In the presence of moderate electron-phonon interaction due to Fe-ion optical modes, on the other hand, orbital fluctuations give rise to the fully-gapped $s_{++}$-wave state without sign reversal. Therefore, both superconducting states are distinguishable by careful measurements of the gap structure or the impurity effect on Tc.

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arXiv2011

Comment on "Orbital Order, Structural Transition and Superconductivity in Iron Pnictides" [arXiv:1010.0129] by Yanagi et al

In contrast to the claim by Yanagi et al. in Ref. [1], the development of orbital fluctuations at $q ~ 0$ due to the "orthorhombic phonon" is unable to explain the high-Tc superconductivity in iron pnictides. The reason is that the orthorhombic-phonon is acoustic with the energy $ω_q \propto q$, although the authors in Ref. [1] treated it as optical phonon ($ω_o=0.02 eV$) inconsistently.

cond-mat.str-el↗
arXiv2010

Orbital Fluctuation Theory in Iron Pnictides: Effects of As-Fe-As Bond Angle, Isotope Substitution, and $Z^2$-Orbital Pocket on the Superconductivity

We study the pairing mechanism in iron pnictide superconductors based on the five-orbital Hubbard-Holstein model. Due to Fe-ion oscillations, the s-wave superconducting (SC) state without sign reversal (s_{++}-wave state) is induced by orbital fluctuations by using realistic model parameters. The virtue of the present theory is that the famous empirical relation between Tc and the As-Fe-As bond angle is automatically explained, since the electron-phonon (e-ph) coupling that creates the orbital fluctuations is the strongest when the As$_4$-tetrahedron is regular. The negative iron isotope effect is also reproduced. In addition, the magnitude of the SC gap on hole-pockets is predicted to be rather insensitive to the corresponding d-orbital (xz/yz- or z^2-orbital), which is consistent with the recent bulk-sensitive angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy (ARPES) measurement for (Ba,K)Fe$_2$As$_2$ and BaFe$_2$(As,P)$_2$. These obtained results indicate that the orbital-fluctuation-mediated s_{++}-wave state is a plausible candidate for iron pnictides.

cond-mat.supr-con↗
arXiv2010

Non-Fermi-Liquid-Like Behaviors and Superconductivity Driven by Orbital Fluctuations in Iron Pnictides: Analysis by Fluctuation-Exchange Approximation

We study the five-orbital Hubbard-Holstein model for iron pnictides with small electron-phonon interaction due to Fe-ion Einstein oscillators. Using the fluctuation-exchange (FLEX) approximation, orbital fluctuations evolve inversely proportional to the temperature, and therefore the resistivity shows linear or convex T-dependence for wide range of temperatures. We also analyze the Eliashberg gap equation, and show that s-wave superconducting state without sign reversal (s_{++}-wave state) emerges when the orbital fluctuations dominate the spin fluctuations. When both fluctuations are comparable, their competition gives rise to a nodal s-wave state. The present study offers us a unified explanation for both the normal and superconducting states.

cond-mat.supr-con↗
arXiv2010

Comment on "Isoelectronic Ru substitution at Fe-site in Sm(Fe$_{1-x}$Ru$_x$)AsO$_{0.85}$F$_{0.15}$ compound and its effects on structural, superconducting and normal state properties" (arXiv:1004.1978)

Based on the five-orbital model, we derive the reduced impurity scattering rate $g=zγ/2πT_{c0}$ in Sm(Fe$_{1-x}$Ru$_{x}$)AsO$_{0.85}$F$_{0.15}$ from the residual resistivity. At $x=0$, the transition temperature is $T_{c0}=50$ K. For $0.05 T_{c}/T_{c0}>0.3$) the obtained value of $g$ ranges from 1.5 to 2.9, which suggests that the $s_\pm$-wave state cannot survive. We point out that the magnetoresistance frequently gives an underestimated value of $g$ in correlated electron systems.

cond-mat.str-el↗
arXiv2010

Orbital Fluctuation Mediated Superconductivity in Iron Pnictides: Analysis of Five Orbital Hubbard-Holstein Model

In iron pnictides, we find that the moderate electron-phonon interaction due to the Fe-ion oscillation can induce the critical d-orbital fluctuations, without being prohibited by the Coulomb interaction. These fluctuations give rise to the strong pairing interaction for the s-wave superconducting (SC) state without sign reversal ($s_{++}$-wave state), which is consistent with experimentally observed robustness of superconductivity against impurities. When the magnetic fluctuations due to Coulomb interaction are also strong, the SC state shows a smooth crossover from the s-wave state with sign reversal ($s_\pm$-wave state) to the $s_{++}$-wave state as impurity concentration increases.

cond-mat.str-el↗
arXiv2010

Structure of Neutron-Scattering Peak in both s++ wave and s+- wave states of an Iron pnictide Superconductor

We study the neutron scattering spectrum in iron pnictides based on the random-phase approximation in the five-orbital model, for fully-gapped s-wave states with sign reversal (s+-) and without sign reversal (s++). In the s++ wave state, we find that a prominent hump structure appears just above the spectral gap, by taking account of the quasiparticle damping gamma due to strong electron-electron correlation: As the superconductivity develops, the reduction in gamma gives rise to the large overshoot in the spectrum above the gap. The obtained hump structure looks similar to the resonance peak in the s+- wave state, although the height and weight of the peak in the latter state is much larger. In the present study, experimentally observed broad spectral peak in iron pnictides is naturally reproduced by assuming the s++ wave state.

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arXiv2009

Violation of Anderson's Theorem for Sign-Reversing s-Wave State of Iron-Pnictide Superconductors

Based on the five-orbital model, we study the effect of local impurity in iron pnictides, and find that the interband impurity scattering is promoted by the d-orbital degree of freedom. This fact means that the fully-gapped sign-reversing s-wave state, which is predicted by spin fluctuation theories, is very fragile against impurities. In the BCS theory, only 1% impurities with intermediate strength induce huge pair-breaking, resulting in the large in-gap state and prominent reduction in Tc, contrary to the prediction based on simple orbital-less models. The present study provides a stringent constraint on the pairing symmetry and the electronic states in iron pnictides.

cond-mat.supr-con↗
arXiv2009

Anomalous Hall Effect in $t_{2g}$ Orbital Kagome Lattice due to Non-collinearity:Significance of Orbital Aharonov-Bohm Effect

A new mechanism of spin structure-driven anomalous Hall effect (AHE) in tilted ferromagnetic metals is proposed by taking account of the d-orbital degree of freedom. We find that a conduction electron acquires a Berry phase due to the complex d-orbital wavefunction, in the presence of non-collinear spin structure and the spin orbit interaction. The AHE driven by this orbital-derived Berry phase is much larger than the AHE induced by spin chirality, and it naturally explains the salient features of spin structure-driven AHE in pyrochlore Nd$_2$Mo$_2$O$_7$. Since the proposed AHE can occur even for coplanar spin orders ($M_z=0$), it is expected to emerge in other interesting geometrically frustrated systems.

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