Strong correlations and the search for high-Tc superconductivity in chromium pnictides and chalcogenides

Abstract

Undoped iron superconductors accommodate n=6 electrons in five d orbitals. Experimental and theoretical evidence shows that the strength of correlations increases with hole doping, as the electronic filling approaches half filling with n=5 electrons. This evidence delineates a scenario in which the parent compound of iron superconductors is the half-filled system, in analogy to cuprate superconductors. In cuprates the superconductivity can be induced upon electron or hole doping. In this work we propose to search for high-Tc superconductivity and strong correlations in chromium pnictides and chalcogenides with n<5 electrons. By means of ab initio slave-spin and multiorbital random-phase-approximation calculations we analyze the strength of the correlations and the superconducting and magnetic instabilities in these systems with the main focus on LaCrAsO. We find that electron-doped LaCrAsO is a strongly correlated system with competing magnetic interactions, with (π,π) antiferromagnetism and nodal d-wave pairing being the most plausible magnetic and superconducting instabilities, respectively.