Tuning across the BCS-BEC crossover in the multiband superconductor Fe1+ y Se x Te1- x : An angle-resolved photoemission study

Sci Adv. 2017 Apr 21;3(4):e1602372. doi: 10.1126/sciadv.1602372. eCollection 2017 Apr.

Abstract

The crossover from Bardeen-Cooper-Schrieffer (BCS) superconductivity to Bose-Einstein condensation (BEC) is difficult to realize in quantum materials because, unlike in ultracold atoms, one cannot tune the pairing interaction. We realize the BCS-BEC crossover in a nearly compensated semimetal, Fe1+y Se x Te1-x , by tuning the Fermi energy εF via chemical doping, which permits us to systematically change Δ/εF from 0.16 to 0.50, where Δ is the superconducting (SC) gap. We use angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy to measure the Fermi energy, the SC gap, and characteristic changes in the SC state electronic dispersion as the system evolves from a BCS to a BEC regime. Our results raise important questions about the crossover in multiband superconductors, which go beyond those addressed in the context of cold atoms.

Keywords: ARPES; BCS-BEC crossover; Cold atoms; Iron based superconductors; superconductivity.