Superconducting Symmetry Studied from Impurity Effects in Single-Crystal Fe1-yMySe0.3Te0.7 (M = Co, Ni, Zn)

TL;DR

This study examines how impurity substitutions affect the superconducting transition temperature in FeSeTe crystals, providing evidence that supports an s++-wave symmetry of the superconducting gap.

Contribution

It offers experimental insights into the impurity effects on Tc and argues for s++-wave symmetry, challenging pair-breaking theories based on potential scattering.

Findings

Different impurity elements cause varying Tc suppression rates.

The suppression cannot be fully explained by Abrikosov-Gor'kov theory.

Results support s++-wave symmetry in FeSeTe superconductors.

Abstract

We have investigated the suppression of the superconducting transition temperature, Tc, with an increase of the residual resistivity, \rho_0, through the substitution of M (M = Co, Ni, Zn) for Fe in Fe1-yMySe0.3Te0.7 single crystals, in order to clarify the symmetry of the superconducting gap in FeSe1-xTex. Small, large and very small suppression of Tc have been observed through the Co, Ni and Zn substitution, respectively. The magnitude of the suppression rate is hardly explained in terms of the pair-breaking effect due to potential scattering calculated based on the Abrikosov-Gor'kov theory, even if errors in the estimation of the carrier concentration, effective mass and \rho_0 were taken into account. Accordingly, these results suggest that the superconducting symmetry is the s++-wave in FeSe1-xTex.