2008/08/31 by V. B. Zabolotnyy, D. S. Inosov, D. V. Evtushinsky +16 · 194 citations
Materials Science · Physics and Astronomy · #Charge density #Condensed matter physics #Electron #Electronic band structure #Electronic structure #Iron-based superconductors research #Physics #Pnictogen #Quantum mechanics #Superconductivity #Valence electron #cond-mat.str-el #cond-mat.supr-con
paper · pdf · doi:10.1038/nature07714
published in Nature 457(7229), 569-572 (Nature Portfolio)
arxiv created 2008/12/08 · openalex publication_date 2009/01/01 · arxiv updated 2009/12/01 · openalex created_date 2016/06/24 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/05
The distribution of valence electrons in metals usually follows the symmetry of an ionic lattice. Modulations of this distribution often occur when those electrons are not stable with respect to a new electronic order, such as spin or charge density waves. Electron density waves have been observed in many families of superconductors[1-3], and are often considered to be essential for superconductivity to exist[4]. Recent measurements[5-9] seem to show that the properties of the iron pnictides[10, 11] are in good agreement with band structure calculations that do not include additional ordering, implying no relation between density waves and superconductivity in those materials[12-15]. Here we report that the electronic structure of Ba1-xKxFe2As2 is in sharp disagreement with those band structure calculations[12-15], instead revealing a reconstruction characterized by a (pi,pi) wave vector. This electronic order coexists with superconductivity and persists up to room temperature.