Electronic correlations and unconventional spectral weight transfer in the high-temperature pnictide BaFe(2-x)Co(x)As(2) superconductor using infrared spectroscopy

Abstract

We report an infrared optical study of the pnictide high-temperature superconductor BaFe(1.84)Co(0.16)As(2) and its parent compound BaFe(2)As(2). We demonstrate that electronic correlations are moderately strong and do not change across the spin-density wave transition or with doping. By examining the energy scale and direction of spectral weight transfer, we argue that Hund's coupling J is the primary mechanism that gives rise to correlations.