Detection of bosonic mode as a signature of magnetic excitation in one unit cell FeSe on SrTiO3

TL;DR

This study uses scanning tunneling spectroscopy to identify a bosonic excitation mode in 1-UC FeSe on SrTiO3, suggesting magnetic excitation as a key factor in its high-temperature superconductivity.

Contribution

It provides direct evidence of a magnetic excitation mode linked to superconductivity in 1-UC FeSe/STO, highlighting electron-magnetic-excitation coupling.

Findings

Detection of a bosonic mode outside the superconducting gap.

The mode correlates with magnetic resonance characteristics.

Induced in-gap states indicate unconventional pairing.

Abstract

We report an in situ scanning tunneling spectroscopy study of one-unit-cell (1-UC) FeSe film on SrTiO3(001) (STO) substrate. In quasiparticle density of states, bosonic excitation mode characterized by the "dip-hump" structure is detected outside the larger superconducting gap with energy comparable with phonon and spin resonance modes in heavily electron-doped iron selenides. Statistically, the excitation mode, which is intimately correlated with superconductivity, shows an anticorrelation with pairing strength and yields an energy scale upper-bounded by twice the superconducting gap coinciding with the characteristics of magnetic resonance in cuprates and iron-based superconductors. The local response of tunneling spectra to magnetically different Se defects all exhibits the induced in-gap quasiparticle bound states, indicating an unconventional sign-reversing pairing. These results support the magnetic nature of the excitation mode and possibly reveal a signature of electron-magnetic-excitation coupling in high-temperature superconductivity of 1-UC FeSe/STO.