Point contact Andreev reflection spectroscopy of NdFeAsO0.85

The newly discovered oxypnictide family of superconductors show very high critical temperatures of up to 55 K. Whilst there is growing evidence that suggests a nodal order parameter, point contact Andreev reflection spectroscopy can provide crucial information such as the gap value and possibly the number of energy gaps involved. For the oxygen deficient NdFeAsO0.85 with a T-c of 45.5 K, we show that there is clearly a gap value at 4.2 K that is of the order of 7 meV, consistent with previous studies on oxypnictides with lower T-c. In addition, taking the spectra as a function of gold tip contact pressure reveals important changes in the spectra which may be indicative of more complex physics underlying this structure.