Orbital-Selective Pairing (IMAGE)
Caption
Iron-based superconductivity occurs in materials such as iron selenide (FeSe) that contain crystal planes made up of a square array of iron (Fe) atoms, depicted here. In these iron layers, each Fe atom has two active electron 'clouds,' or orbitals--dxz (red) and dyz (blue)--each containing one electron. By directly visualizing the electron states in the iron planes of FeSe, the researchers revealed that that electrons in the dxz orbitals (red) do not form Cooper pairs or contribute to the superconductivity, but instead form an incoherent metallic state along the horizontal (x) axis. In contrast, all electrons in the dyz orbitals (blue) form strong Cooper pairs with neighboring atoms to generate superconductivity. Searching for other materials with this exotic 'orbital-selective' pairing may lead to the discovery of new superconductors.
Credit
Brookhaven Lab/Cornell U
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