Imaging the electron-boson coupling in superconducting FeSe films using a scanning tunneling microscope

Phys Rev Lett. 2014 Feb 7;112(5):057002. doi: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.112.057002. Epub 2014 Feb 6.

Abstract

Scanning tunneling spectroscopy has been used to reveal signatures of a bosonic mode in the local quasiparticle density of states of superconducting FeSe films. The mode appears below Tc as a "dip-hump" feature at energy Ω∼4.7kBTc beyond the superconducting gap Δ. Spectra on strained regions of the FeSe films reveal simultaneous decreases in Δ and Ω. This contrasts with all previous reports on other high-Tc superconductors, where Δ locally anticorrelates with Ω. A local strong coupling model is found to reconcile the discrepancy well, and to provide a unified picture of the electron-boson coupling in unconventional superconductors.