Nonequilibrium quasiparticle relaxation dynamics is reported in superconducting CaFe1.89Co0.11As2 single crystal using femtosecond time-resolved pump-probe spectroscopy. The carrier dynamics reflects a three-channel decay of laser deposited energy with characteristic time scales varying from few hundreds of femtoseconds to order of few nanoseconds where the amplitudes and time-constants of the individual electronic relaxation components show significant changes in the vicinity of the spin density wave (T_SDW ~ 85 K) and superconducting (T_SC ~ 20 K) phase transition temperatures. The quasiparticles dynamics in the superconducting state reveals a charge gap with reduced gap value of 2Δ_0/k_BT_SC ~ 1.8. We have determined the electron-phonon coupling constant \lemda to be ~ 0.14 from the temperature dependent relaxation time in the normal state, a value close to those reported for other types of pnictides. From the peculiar temperature-dependence of the carrier dynamics in the intermediate temperature region between the superconducting and spin density wave phase transitions, we infer a temperature scale where the charge gap associated with the spin ordered phase is maximum and closes on either side while approaching the two phase transition temperatures.
@article{arxiv.1209.3551,
title = {Ultrafast quasiparticle dynamics in superconducting iron pnictide CaFe1.89Co0.11As2},
author = {Sunil Kumar and L. Harnagea and S. Wurmehl and B. Buchner and A. K. Sood},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:1209.3551},
year = {2013}
}