Small anisotropy of the lower critical field and $s_\pm$-wave two-gap feature in single crystal LiFeAs

TL;DR

This study investigates the anisotropy and two-gap superconducting features of LiFeAs, revealing small anisotropy, power-law penetration depth behavior, and supporting an extended s±-wave pairing symmetry with two distinct gaps.

Contribution

It provides experimental evidence for the small anisotropy and two-gap nature of LiFeAs, supporting the extended s±-wave pairing model with weak impurity scattering effects.

Findings

Small anisotropy ratio $ ightarrow$ weaker than expected theoretical value.

Power-law temperature dependence of penetration depth $ ightarrow$ consistent with unconventional pairing.

Two-gap model fitting aligns with ARPES and specific heat data.

Abstract

The in- and out-of-plane lower critical fields and magnetic penetration depths for LiFeAs were examined. The anisotropy ratio $\gamma_{H_{c1}}(0)$ is smaller than the expected theoretical value, and increased slightly with increasing temperature from 0.6$T_c$ to $T_c$. This small degree of anisotropy was numerically confirmed by considering electron correlation effect. The temperature dependence of the penetration depths followed a power law($\sim$$T^n$) below 0.3$T_c$, with $n$$>$3.5 for both $\lambda_{ab}$ and $\lambda_c$. Based on theoretical studies of iron-based superconductors, these results suggest that the superconductivity of LiFeAs can be represented by an extended $s_\pm$-wave due to weak impurity scattering effect. And the magnitudes of the two gaps were also evaluted by fitting the superfluid density for both the in- and out-of-plane to the two-gap model. The estimated values for the two gaps are consistent with the results of angle resolved photoemission spectroscopy and specific heat experiments.