A doping dependent specific heat study of the superconducting gap in Ba(Fe$_{1-x}$Co$_{x}$)$_{2}$As$_{2}$

TL;DR

This study investigates how doping levels affect the superconducting gap structure in Ba(Fe$_{1-x}$Co$_{x}$)$_{2}$As$_{2}$ through detailed specific heat measurements, revealing complex gap behavior and inhomogeneity effects.

Contribution

It provides the first detailed doping-dependent analysis of the electronic specific heat and gap structure in Ba(Fe$_{1-x}$Co$_{x}$)$_{2}$As$_{2}$ using specific heat measurements.

Findings

Superconducting gap structure is complex and not isotropic s-wave.

Gap structure remains similar across different doping levels.

Significant residual linear term suggests inhomogeneity in samples.

Abstract

We report a doping, magnetic field and low-temperature dependent study of the specific heat of the iron-arsenide Ba(Fe$_{1-x}$Co$_{x}$)$_{2}$As$_{2}$ at under (x=0.045), optimal (x=0.08) and overdoped (x=0.103 and 0.105) regimes. By subtracting the lattice specific heat the temperature and magnetic field dependence of the electronic specific heat has been studied. The temperature and field dependencies of the superconducting part of $C_{p}$ exhibit similar behavior for all doping concentrations. The temperature variation of the electronic specific heat as well as its field dependence cannot be described by a single isotropic s-wave gap, pointing to a complex gap structure in the system. The lack of doping dependence indicates that the gap structure does not change significantly as a function of doping. We also observe a significant residual linear term of unknown origin in the specific heat of Ba(Fe$_{1-x}$Co$_{x}$)$_{2}$As$_{2}$ which suggests that inhomogeneity may be an important factor in Co-doped BaFe$_{2}$As$_{2}$