Atomic-Site-Dependent Pairing Gap in Monolayer FeSe/SrTiO<sub>3</sub>(001)-(√13 × √13).

Ding, Cui; Wei, Zhongxu; Dong, Wenfeng; Feng, Hai; Shi, Mingxia; Wang, Lili; Jia, Jin-Feng; Xue, Qi-Kun · Nano Lett · 2024

basic_science · Level V

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Abstract

The interfacial FeSe/TiO<sub>2-δ</sub> coupling induces high-temperature superconductivity in monolayer FeSe films. Using cryogenic atomically resolved scanning tunneling microscopy/spectroscopy, we obtained atomic-site dependent surface density of states, work function, and the pairing gap in the monolayer FeSe on the SrTiO<sub>3</sub>(001)-(√13 × √13)-R33.7° surface. Our results disclosed the out-of-plane Se-Fe-Se triple layer gradient variation, switched DOS for Fe sites on and off TiO<sub>5□</sub>, and inequivalent Fe sublattices, which gives global spatial modulation of pairing gap contaminants with the (√13 × √13) pattern. Moreover, the coherent lattice coupling induces strong inversion asymmetry and in-plane anisotropy in the monolayer FeSe, which is demonstrated to correlate with the particle-hole asymmetry in coherence peaks. These results disclose delicate atomic-scale correlations between pairing and lattice-electronic coupling in the Bardeen-Cooper-Schrieffer to Bose-Einstein condensation crossover regime, providing insights into understanding the pairing mechanism of multiorbital superconductivity.