Disorder-Driven Transition from s± to s+ + Superconducting Order Parameter in Proton Irradiated Ba(Fe1-xRhx)2As2 Single Crystals

Microwave measurements of the London penetration depth and critical temperature T-c were used to show evidence of a disordered-driven transition from s(+/-) to s(++) order parameter symmetry in optimally doped Ba(Fe1-xRhx)(2) As-2 single crystals, where disorder was induced by means of 3.5 MeV proton irradiation. Signatures of such a transition, as theoretically predicted [V.D. Efremov et al., Phys. Rev. B 84, 180512(R) (2011)], are found as a drop in the low-temperature values of the London penetration depth and a virtually disorder-independent superconducting T-c. We show how these experimental observations can be described by multiband Eliashberg calculations in which the effect of disorder is accounted for in a suitable way. To this aim, an effective two-band approach is adopted, allowing us to treat disorder in a range between the Born approximation and the unitary limit.