Evidence for Two Energy Gaps in Superconducting Ba$_{0.6}$K$_{0.4}$Fe$_2$As$_2$ Single Crystals and Breakdown of the Uemura Plot

ORAL

Abstract

We report a detailed investigation on the lower critical field $H_{c1}$ of the superconducting Ba$_{0.6}$K$_{0.4}$Fe$_2$As$_2$ (FeAs-122) single crystals. A pronounced kink is observed on the $H_{c1}(T)$ curve, which is attributed to the existence of two superconducting gaps. By fitting the data $H_{c1}(T)$ to the two-gap BCS model in full temperature region, a small gap of $\Delta_a(0)=2.0\pm 0.3$ meV and a large gap of $\Delta_b(0) =8.9 \pm 0.4$ meV are obtained. The in-plane penetration depth $\lambda_{ab}(0)$ is estimated to be 105 nm corresponding to a rather large superfluid density, which points to the breakdown of the Uemura plot in FeAs-122 superconductors.

Authors

  • Cong Ren

    National Laboratory for Superconductivity, Institute of Physics and Beijing National Laboratory for Condensed Matter Physics, CAS

  • Zhao-Sheng Wang

    National Laboratory for Superconductivity, Institute of Physics and Beijing National Laboratory for Condensed Matter Physics, CAS

  • Hui-Qian Luo

    National Laboratory for Superconductivity, Institute of Physics and Beijing National Laboratory for Condensed Matter Physics, CAS

  • Huan Yang

    National Laboratory for Superconductivity, Institute of Physics and Beijing National Laboratory for Condensed Matter Physics, CAS

  • Lei Shan

    National Laboratory for Superconductivity, Institute of Physics and Beijing National Laboratory for Condensed Matter Physics, CAS

  • Hai-Hu Wen

    Institute of Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China, NLS CAS, National Laboratory for Superconductivity, Institute of Physics and Beijing National Laboratory for Condensed Matter Physics, CAS, IOP, CAS