Theory of thermal conductivity in extended-s state superconductors: application to ferropnictides
Abstract
Within a two-band model for the recently discovered ferropnictide materials, we calculate the thermal conductivity assuming general superconducting states of A1g ("s-wave") symmetry, considering both currently popular isotropic "sign-changing" s states and states with strong anisotropy, including those which manifest nodes or deep minima of the order parameter. We consider both intra- and interband disorder scattering effects, and show that in situations where a low-temperature linear-T exists in the thermal conductivity, it is not always "universal" as in d-wave superconductors. We discuss the conditions under which such a term can disappear, as well as how it can be induced by a magnetic field. We compare our results to several recent experiments.