Preliminary Tc calculations for iron-based superconductivity in NaFeAs, LiFeAs, FeSe and nanostructured FeSe/SrTiO3 Superconductors

TL;DR

This paper develops a computational model incorporating antiferromagnetism, electron-phonon interactions, and interfacial effects to predict Tc in iron-based superconductors, successfully matching experimental data and explaining high Tc in monolayer FeSe/SrTiO3.

Contribution

The study introduces a combined theoretical model that accounts for antiferromagnetism, xy potential, and interfacial effects to accurately predict Tc in iron-based superconductors.

Findings

Model predicts Tc values aligning with experimental data.

Interfacial effects significantly enhance Tc in FeSe monolayers.

Two-channel model supports the role of xy potential in superconductivity.

Abstract

Many theoretical models of iron-based superconductors have been proposed but Tc calculations based on the models are usually missing. We have chosen two models of iron-based superconductors in the literature and then compute the Tc values accordingly: Recently two models have been announced which suggest that superconducting electron concentration involved in the pairing mechanism of iron-based superconductors may have been underestimated, and that the antiferromagnetism and the induced xy potential may even have a dramatic amplification effect on electron-phonon coupling. We use bulk FeSe, LiFeAs and NaFeAs data to calculate the Tc based on these models and test if the combined model can predict the superconducting transition temperature (Tc) of the nanostructured FeSe monolayer well. To substantiate the recently announced xy potential in the literature, we create a two-channel model to separately superimpose the dynamics of the electron in the upper and lower tetrahedral plane. The results of our two-channel model support the literature data. Our computational model takes into account this amplifying effect of antiferromagnetism and the correction of the electron-phonon scattering matrix together with the abnormal soft out-of-plane lattice vibration of the layered structure, which allows us to calculate theoretical Tc values of LiFeAs, NaFeAs and FeSe as a function of pressure that correspond reasonably well to the experimental values. More importantly, by taking into account the interfacial effect between an FeSe monolayer and its SrTiO3 substrate as an additional gain factor, our calculated Tc value is up to 91 K high, and provides evidence that the strong Tc enhancement recently observed in such monolayers with Tc reaching 100 K may be contributed from the electrons within the ARPES range.