TAO pairing: a fully gapped pairing scenario for the Iron-Based Superconductors

Abstract

Motivated by the fully gapped superconductivity in iron-based superconductors with uncompensated electron pockets, we propose a spin singlet, but orbital triplet analogue of the superfluid phase of He-3B. We show that orbital triplets with a nominal d-wave symmetry at the iron sites can transform as s-wave pairs under rotations about the selenium sites. Linear combinations of such d$_{xy}$ and d$_{x^{2}-y^{2}}$ triplets form a fully gapped, topological superconductor. Raman-active excitations are predicted to develop below the superconducting transition temperature.