Impurity-induced quasiparticle interference in the parent compounds of iron-pnictide superconductors

TL;DR

This study explores how impurity-induced quasiparticle interference patterns in parent iron-pnictide superconductors vary with magnetic order, revealing different spatial structures and symmetries linked to magnetic properties.

Contribution

It introduces a phenomenological two-orbital four-band model combined with T-matrix calculations to analyze impurity effects in iron-pnictides, highlighting the magnetic order's influence on QPI patterns.

Findings

QPI patterns depend on magnetic order magnitude.

Small magnetic order yields 2D oscillation patterns.

Large magnetic order results in 1D stripe structures.

Abstract

The impurity-induced quasiparticle interference(QPI) in the parent compounds of iron-pnictide superconductors is investigated based on a phenomenological two-orbital four-band model and T-matrix method. We find the QPI is sensitive to the value of the magnetic order which may vary from one compound to another. For small value of the magnetic order, the pattern of oscillation in the local density of states (LDOS) induced by the QPI exhibits two-dimensional characteristics, consistent with the standing wave state observed in the 1111 compound. For larger value of the magnetic order, the main feature of the spatial modulation of the LDOS is the existence of one-dimensional stripe structure which is in agreement with the nematic structure in the parent compound of the 122 system. In both cases the system shows $C_2$ symmetry and only in the larger magnetic order case, there exist in-gap bound states. The corresponding QPI in $q$-space is also presented. The patterns of modulation in the LDOS at nonzero energies are attributed to the interplay between the underlying band structure and Fermi surfaces.