The role of orbital nesting in the superconductivity of Iron-based Superconductors

Abstract

We analyze the magnetic excitations and the spin-mediated superconductivity in iron-based superconductors within a low-energy model that operates in the band basis but fully incorporates the orbital character of the spin excitations. We show how the orbital selectivity, encoded in our low-energy description, simplifies substantially the analysis and allows for analytical treatments, while retaining all the main features of both spin-excitations and gap functions computed using multiorbital models. Importantly, our analysis unveils the orbital matching between the hole and electron pockets as the key parameter to determine the momentum-dependence and the hierarchy of the superconducting gaps, instead of the Fermi surface matching as in the common nesting scenario.