Low-energy quasiparticles probed by heat transport in the iron-based superconductor LaFePO

摘要

We have measured the thermal conductivity of the iron pnictide superconductor LaFePO down to temperatures as low as T = 60 mK and in magnetic fields up to 5 T. The data show a large residual contribution that is linear in temperature, consistent with the presence of low-energy electronic quasiparticles. We interpret the magnitude of the linear term, as well as the field and temperature dependence of thermal transport in several pairing scenarios. The presence of an unusual supralinear temperature dependence of the electronic thermal conductivity in zero magnetic field, and a high scattering rate with minimal T_c suppression argues for a sign-changing nodal s± state.