Superconductivity-induced optical anomaly in an iron arsenide

Abstract

One of the central tenets of conventional theories of superconductivity, including most models proposed for the recently discovered iron-pnictide superconductors, is the notion that only electronic excitations with energies comparable to the superconducting energy gap are affected by the transition. Here we report the results of a comprehensive spectroscopic ellipsometry study of a high-quality crystal of superconducting ${\text{Ba}}_{0.68}{\text{K}}_{0.32}{\text{Fe}}_2{\text{As}}_2$ that challenges this notion. We observe a superconductivity-induced suppression of an absorption band at an energy of $2.5\text{eV}$, two orders of magnitude above the superconducting gap energy $2\Delta \sim 20\text{meV}$. Based on density-functional calculations, this band can be assigned to transitions from As-p to Fe-d orbitals crossing the Fermi surface. We identify a related effect at the spin-density-wave transition in parent compounds of the 122 family. This suggests that As-p states deep below the Fermi level contribute to the formation of the superconducting and spin-density-wave states in the iron arsenides.

5 pages, 3 figures. Supplementary material: 6 pages, 3 figures (1 interactive)

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