High Temperature Superconductivity in Iron Pnictides and Chalcogenides

TL;DR

This review discusses recent advances in iron-based superconductors, focusing on their high transition temperatures, normal state properties, magnetism, electron correlations, and mechanisms for optimizing superconductivity.

Contribution

It provides a comprehensive overview of the progress in understanding high-temperature superconductivity in iron pnictides and chalcogenides, highlighting new insights into their normal state and pairing mechanisms.

Findings

High transition temperatures achieved in iron-based superconductors

Electron-electron correlations significantly influence normal state properties

Magnetism and quantum criticality play key roles in superconductivity

Abstract

Superconductivity develops in metals upon the formation of a coherent macroscopic quantum state of electron pairs. Iron pnictides and chalcogenides are materials that have high superconducting transition temperatures. In this Review, we describe the advances in the field that have led to higher superconducting transition temperatures in iron-based superconductors and the wide range of materials that form them. We summarize both the essential aspects of the normal state and the mechanism for superconductivity. We emphasize the degree of electron-electron correlations and their manifestation in properties of the normal state. We examine the nature of magnetism, analyse its role in driving the electronic nematicity, and discuss quantum criticality at the border of magnetism in the phase diagram. Finally, we review the amplitude and structure of the superconducting pairing, and survey the potential settings for optimizing superconductivity.