Orbital-dependent modulation of the superconducting gap in uniaxially strained Ba$_{0.6}$K$_{0.4}$Fe$_2$As$_2$

TL;DR

This study reveals how uniaxial strain induces a nematic superconducting state in Ba$_{0.6}$K$_{0.4}$Fe$_2$As$_2$, causing orbital-dependent modulation of the superconducting gap and highlighting the role of intra-orbital scattering.

Contribution

It demonstrates strain-induced orbital selectivity in the superconducting gap structure of iron-based superconductors using angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy.

Findings

Uniaxial strain drives nematic superconductivity with broken four-fold symmetry.

Superconducting gap increases on $d_{yz}$ pockets and decreases on $d_{xz}$ pockets.

Orbital-selective pairing exists intrinsically and is modulated by strain.

Abstract

Pairing symmetry which characterizes the superconducting pairing mechanism is normally determined by measuring the superconducting gap structure ($|\Delta_k|$). Here, we report the measurement of a strain-induced gap modulation ($\partial|\Delta_k|$) in uniaxially strained Ba$_{0.6}$K$_{0.4}$Fe$_2$As$_2$ utilizing angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy and $in$-$situ$ strain-tuning. We found that the uniaxial strain drives Ba$_{0.6}$K$_{0.4}$Fe$_2$As$_2$ into a nematic superconducting state which breaks the four-fold rotational symmetry of the superconducting pairing. The superconducting gap increases on the $d_{yz}$ electron and hole pockets while it decreases on the $d_{xz}$ counterparts. Such orbital selectivity indicates that orbital-selective pairing exists intrinsically in non-nematic iron-based superconductors. The $d_{xz}$ and $d_{yz}$ pairing channels are balanced originally in the pristine superconducting state, but become imbalanced under uniaxial strain. Our results highlight the important role of intra-orbital scattering in mediating the superconducting pairing in iron-based superconductors. It also highlights the measurement of $\partial|\Delta_k|$ as an effective way to characterize the superconducting pairing from a perturbation perspective.