Published in

Nature Research, Nature Communications, 1(8), 2017

DOI: 10.1038/s41467-017-00162-x

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Structure of spin excitations in heavily electron-doped Li0.8Fe0.2ODFeSe superconductors

This paper is made freely available by the publisher.
This paper is made freely available by the publisher.

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Abstract

AbstractHeavily electron-doped iron-selenide high-transition-temperature (high-Tc) superconductors, which have no hole Fermi pockets, but have a notably high Tc, have challenged the prevailing s± pairing scenario originally proposed for iron pnictides containing both electron and hole pockets. The microscopic mechanism underlying the enhanced superconductivity in heavily electron-doped iron-selenide remains unclear. Here, we used neutron scattering to study the spin excitations of the heavily electron-doped iron-selenide material Li0.8Fe0.2ODFeSe (Tc = 41 K). Our data revealed nearly ring-shaped magnetic resonant excitations surrounding (π, π) at ∼21 meV. As the energy increased, the spin excitations assumed a diamond shape, and they dispersed outward until the energy reached ∼60 meV and then inward at higher energies. The observed energy-dependent momentum structure and twisted dispersion of spin excitations near (π, π) are analogous to those of hole-doped cuprates in several aspects, thus implying that such spin excitations are essential for the remarkably high Tc in these materials.