Abstract
The iron arsenic high-temperature superconductors exhibit particularly rich phase diagrams. In the AE(Fe 1-x T x) 2 As 2 family (known as 122, with AE being Ca, Sr or Ba and T being a transition metal), the simultaneous structural/magnetic phase transition that occurs at elevated temperature in the undoped material splits and is suppressed by carrier doping. A superconducting region appears as likely in the orthorhombic/antiferromagnetic (AFM) state as in the tetragonal/paramagnetic state. An important question then is what determines the critical doping at which superconductivity emerges, as the AFM order is fully suppressed only close to optimal doping. Here we report evidence from angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy that marked changes in the Fermi surface coincide with the onset of superconductivity in electron-doped Ba(Fe 1-x Co x) 2 As 2. The presence of the AFM order leads to a reconstruction of the electronic structure, most significantly the appearance of the petal-like hole pockets at the Fermi level. These hole pockets vanishthat is, undergo a Lifshitz transitionas the cobalt concentration is increased sufficiently to support superconductivity. Superconductivity and magnetism are competing states in this system: when petal-like hole pockets are present, superconductivity is fully suppressed, whereas in their absence the two states can coexist.
Original language | English (US) |
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Pages (from-to) | 419-423 |
Number of pages | 5 |
Journal | Nature Physics |
Volume | 6 |
Issue number | 6 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - Jun 2010 |
Externally published | Yes |
Bibliographical note
Funding Information:We acknowledge Y. S. Kim for his excellent instrumental support at ALS. Ames Laboratory is supported by the Department of Energy—Basic Energy Sciences under Contract No. DE-AC02-07CH11358. ALS is operated by the US DOE under Contract No. DE-AC03-76SF00098.