Thermal Hall Conductivity as a Probe of Gap Structure in Multi-band Superconductors: The Case of $\rm Ba_{1-x}K_xFe_2As_2$

TL;DR

This study uses thermal Hall conductivity measurements in Ba_{1-x}K_xFe_2As_2 to reveal the dominant gap structure in multi-band superconductors, indicating a large hole-pocket gap despite variations on electron pockets.

Contribution

It demonstrates that thermal Hall conductivity can effectively probe the gap structure in multi-band superconductors, highlighting the significance of hole pockets in Ba_{1-x}K_xFe_2As_2.

Findings

Large quasiparticle population below T_c inferred from anomalies.

Hole-like quasiparticle signal consistent with minimal gap at hole pockets.

Thermal Hall conductivity reveals gap structure despite multi-band complexity.

Abstract

The sign and profile of the thermal Hall conductivity $\kappa_{xy}$ gives important insights into the gap structure of multi-band superconductors. With this perspective, we have investigated $\kappa_{xy}$ and the thermal conductivity $\kappa_{xx}$ in $\rm Ba_{1-x}K_xFe_2As_2$ which display large peak anomalies in the superconducting state. The anomalies imply that a large hole-like quasiparticle (qp) population exists below the critical temperature $T_c$. We show that the qp mean-free-path inferred from $\kappa_{xx}$ reproduces the observed anomaly in $\kappa_{xy}$, providing a consistent estimate of a large qp population. Further, we demonstrate that the hole-like signal is consistent with a theoretical scenario where despite potentially large gap variations on the electron pockets, the minimal homogeneous gap of the superconducting phase resides at a hole pocket. Implications for probing the gap structure in the broader class of pnictide superconductors are discussed.