Quasiparticle states around a nonmagnetic impurity in electron-doped iron-based superconductors with spin-density-wave order

Abstract

The quasiparticle states around a nonmagnetic impurity in electron-doped iron-based superconductors with spin-density-wave (SDW) order are investigated as a function of doping and impurity scattering strength. In the undoped sample, where a pure SDW state exists, two impurity-induced resonance peaks are observed around the impurity site and they are shifted to higher (lower) energies as the strength of the positive (negative) scattering potential (SP) is increased. For the doped samples, where the SDW order and the superconducting order coexist, the main feature is the existence of sharp in-gap resonance peaks, the positions and intensity of which depend on the strength of the SP and the doping concentration. In all cases, the local density of states exhibits clear C2 symmetry. We also note that, in the doped cases, the impurity will divide the system into two sublattices with distinct values of magnetic order. Here, we use the band structure of a two-orbital model, which considers the asymmetry of the As atoms above and below the Fe-Fe plane. This model is suitable to study the properties of the surface layers in the iron pnictides and should be more appropriate to describe the scanning tunneling microscopy experiments.

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