We have studied the electronic structure of the nonmagnetic LiFeAs (T(c)∼18  K) superconductor using angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy. We find a notable absence of the Fermi surface nesting, strong renormalization of the conduction bands by a factor of 3, high density of states at the Fermi level caused by a van Hove singularity, and no evidence for either a static or a fluctuating order except superconductivity with in-plane isotropic energy gaps. Our observations suggest that these electronic properties capture the majority of ingredients necessary for the superconductivity in iron pnictides.

Using angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy, we report on the direct observation of the energy gap in 2H-NbSe2 caused by the charge-density waves (CDW). The gap opens in the regions of the momentum space connected by the CDW vectors, which implies a nesting mechanism of CDW formation. In remarkable analogy with the pseudogap in cuprates, the detected energy gap also exists in the normal state (T>T0) where it breaks the Fermi surface into "arcs," it is nonmonotonic as a function of temperature with a local minimum at the CDW transition temperature (T0), and it forestalls the superconducting gap by excluding the nested portions of the Fermi surface from participating in superconductivity.

The distribution of valence electrons in metals usually follows the symmetry of an ionic lattice. Modulations of this distribution often occur when those electrons are not stable with respect to a new electronic order, such as spin or charge density waves. Electron Calculations of the electronic structure of the new pnictide superconductors unanimously predict a Fermi surface (FS) consisting of hole-like pocket in the centre (Γ point) of the Brillouin zone (BZ) and electron-like ones at the corners (X point) of the BZ. A shift by the (π, π) vector would result in a significant overlap of these FSs. Such an electronic structure is highly unstable since any interaction allowing an electron to gain a (π, π) momentum would favour a density wave order, which then results in aforementioned shift and a concomitant opening of the gaps, thus strongly reducing the electronic kinetic energy. It is surprising that ARPES data are reported to be in general, and sometimes in very detailed [9], agreement with the calculations giving a potentially unstable solution [5,6,7]. Even in the parent compound, where the spin density wave transition is clearly seen by other techniques [16,17], no evidence for the expected energy gap has been detected by photoemission experiments [7,8]. In fact, no consensus exists regarding the overall FS topology. According to Refs. 6 and 5, there is a single electron-like FS pocket around the X point, while Ref. 18 reports two intensity spots without any discernible signature for the electron pocket in the normal state. Intensity spots near the X point can also be found in Refs. 6, 7 and 9, but those are interpreted as parts of electron-like pockets. Obviously, such substantial variations in the photoemission signal preclude unambiguous assignment of the observed features to the calculated FS, leaving the electronic structure of the arsenides unclear.In Fig. 1 we show experimental FS map of Ba 1−x K x Fe 2 As 2 (BKFA) measured in superconducting state. To eliminate possible effects of photoemission matrix elements, as well as to cut the electronic structure at different k z values, we have done measurements at several excitation energies (Fig. 1a-b) and polarizations ( Fig. 1c-d). Although there are obvious changes in the intensities of the features, no signatures indicating k z dispersion can be concluded. With this in mind, the apparently different intensity distributions at neighboring Γ points appear unusual. While in the first BZ the two concentric contours are broadly consistent with

Theories based on the coupling between spin fluctuations and fermionic quasiparticles are among the leading contenders to explain the origin of high-temperature superconductivity, but estimates of the strength of this interaction differ widely 1 . Here, we analyse the charge-and spin-excitation spectra determined by angle-resolved photoemission and inelastic neutron scattering, respectively, on the same crystals of the high-temperature superconductor YBa 2 Cu 3 O 6.6 . We show that a self-consistent description of both spectra can be obtained by adjusting a single parameter, the spin-fermion coupling constant. In particular, we find a quantitative link between two spectral features that have been established as universal for the cuprates, namely high-energy spin excitations [2][3][4][5][6][7] and 'kinks' in the fermionic band dispersions along the nodal direction [8][9][10][11][12] . The superconducting transition temperature computed with this coupling constant exceeds 150 K, demonstrating that spin fluctuations have sufficient strength to mediate high-temperature superconductivity.Looking back at conventional superconductors, the most convincing demonstration of the electron-phonon interaction as the source of electron pairing was based on the quantitative correspondence between features in the electronic tunnelling conductance and the phonon spectrum measured by inelastic neutron scattering (INS; for reviews, see the articles by Scalapino, McMillan and Rowell in ref. 13). The rigorous comparison of fermionic and bosonic spectra was made possible by the Eliashberg theory, which enabled the tunnelling conductance to be derived from the experimentally determined phonon spectrum. Various difficulties have impeded a similar approach to the origin of high-temperature superconductivity. First, the d-wave pairing state found in these materials implies a strongly momentum-dependent pairing interaction. A more elaborate analysis based on data from momentum-resolved experimental techniques such as INS and angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy (ARPES) is thus required. These methods, in turn, impose conflicting constraints on the materials. (refs 11,12) have overcome problems related to polar surfaces and enabled the observation of superconducting gaps and band renormalization effects ('kinks') akin to those previously reported in La-and Bi-based cuprates 8 . Third, calculations based on the two-dimensional Hubbard model have demonstrated Fermi surfaces, single-particle spectral weights, antiferromagnetic spin correlations and d x 2 −y 2 pairing correlations in qualitative agreement with experimental measurements [15][16][17] . Numerically accurate solutions of this model can thus serve as a valuable guideline for a treatment of the spin-fluctuation interaction in the cuprates. This is the approach we take here.Recent quantum Monte Carlo calculations of the twodimensional Hubbard model within the dynamical cluster approximation 17 for a realistic value of the bare U /t = 8 and different doping levels ranging from un...