Balancing act: Evidence for a strong subdominant d-wave pairing channel in Ba0.6K0.4Fe2As2

Abstract

We present detailed measurements of the temperature-dependent Raman spectra of optimally doped Ba0.6K0.4Fe2As2 and analyze the low-temperature spectra based on local-density-approximation bandstructure calculations and the subsequent estimation of effective Raman vertices. Experimentally, a narrow, emergent mode appears in the B1g (dx2-y2) Raman spectra only below Tc, well into the superconducting state and at an energy below twice the energy gap on the electron Fermi-surface sheets. The Raman spectra can be reproduced quantitatively with estimates for the magnitude and momentum-space structure of an A1g (s-wave) pairing gap on different Fermi-surface sheets, as well as the identification of the emergent sharp feature as a Bardasis-Schrieffer exciton. Formed as a Cooper-pair bound state in a subdominant dx2-y2 channel, the binding energy of the exciton relative to the gap edge shows that the coupling strength in the subdominant channel is as strong as 60% of that in the dominant s-wave channel. This result suggests that dx2-y2 may be the dominant pairing symmetry in Fe-based superconductors that lack central hole bands.