Abstract
Measurements of the specific heat jump at the onset of superconducting transition in the iron-pnictide compounds revealed strong variation of its magnitude as a function of doping that is peaked near the optimal doping. We show that this behavior is a direct manifestation of the coexistence between spin-density wave and superconducting orders and the peak originates from thermal fluctuations of the spin-density waves near the end point of the coexistence phase - a tetracritical point. Thermal fluctuations result in a power-law dependence of the specific heat jump that is stronger than the contribution of mass renormalization due to quantum fluctuations of spin-density waves in the vicinity of the putative critical point beneath the superconducting dome.
Original language | English |
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Article number | 144503 |
Journal | Physical Review B - Condensed Matter and Materials Physics |
Volume | 89 |
Issue number | 14 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - 8 Apr 2014 |
Externally published | Yes |