Discrete energy levels of Caroli-de Gennes-Matricon states in quantum limit in FeTe0.55Se0.45

Abstract

Caroli-de Gennes-Matricon (CdGM) states were predicted in 1964 as low-energy excitations within vortex cores of type-II superconductors. In the quantum limit, the energy levels of these states were predicted to be discrete with the basic levels at ±μΔ 2/E F (μ = 1/2, 3/2, 5/2, ...) with Δ the superconducting energy gap and E F the Fermi energy. However, due to the small ratio of Δ/E F in most type-II superconductors, it is very difficult to observe the discrete CdGM states, but rather a symmetric peak which appears at zero bias at the vortex center. Here we report the clear observation of these discrete energy levels of CdGM states in FeTe0.55Se0.45. The rather stable energies of these bound state peaks vs. space clearly validate our conclusion. Analysis based on the energies of these CdGM states indicates that the Fermi energy in the present system is very small.