We have performed a high-resolution angle-resolved photoelectron spectroscopy study on the newly discovered superconductor Ba0.6K0.4Fe2As2 (Tc = 37 K). We have observed two superconducting gaps with different values: a large gap (∆ ∼ 12 meV) on the two small holelike and electron-like Fermi surface (FS) sheets, and a small gap (∼ 6 meV) on the large hole-like FS. Both gaps, closing simultaneously at the bulk transition temperature (Tc), are nodeless and nearly isotropic around their respective FS sheets. The isotropic pairing interactions are strongly orbital dependent, as the ratio 2∆/kBTc switches from weak to strong coupling on different bands. The same and surprisingly large superconducting gap due to strong pairing on the two small FSs, which are connected by the (π, 0) spin-density-wave vector in the parent compound, strongly suggests that the pairing mechanism originates from the inter-band interactions between these two nested FS sheets.

The interplay between different ordered phases, such as superconducting, charge or spin ordered phases, is of central interest in condensed-matter physics. The very recent discovery of superconductivity with a remarkable Tc = 26 K in Fe-based oxypnictide La(O1−xFx)FeAs (see Kamihara Y. et al., J. Am. Chem. Soc., 130 (2008) 3296) is a surprise to the scientific community and has generated tremendous interest. The pure LaOFeAs itself is not superconducting but shows an anomaly near 150 K in both resistivity and dc magnetic susceptibility. Here we provide combined experimental and theoretical evidences showing that a spin-density-wave (SDW) state develops at low temperature, in association with electron Nematic order. The electron-doping by F suppresses the SDW instability and induces the superconductivity. Therefore, the La(O1−xFx)FeAs offers an exciting new system showing competing orders in layered compounds.

Superconductivity was recently observed in iron-arsenic-based compounds with a superconducting transition temperature (T(c)) as high as 56 K, naturally raising comparisons with the high-T(c) copper oxides. The copper oxides have layered crystal structures with quasi-two-dimensional electronic properties, which led to speculation that reduced dimensionality (that is, extreme anisotropy) is a necessary prerequisite for superconductivity at temperatures above 40 K (refs 8, 9). Early work on the iron-arsenic compounds seemed to support this view. Here we report measurements of the electrical resistivity in single crystals of (Ba,K)Fe(2)As(2) in a magnetic field up to 60 T. We find that the superconducting properties are in fact quite isotropic, being rather independent of the direction of the applied magnetic fields at low temperature. Such behaviour is strikingly different from all previously known layered superconductors, and indicates that reduced dimensionality in these compounds is not a prerequisite for 'high-temperature' superconductivity. We suggest that this situation arises because of the underlying electronic structure of the iron-arsenic compounds, which appears to be much more three dimensional than that of the copper oxides. Extrapolations of low-field single-crystal data incorrectly suggest a high anisotropy and a greatly exaggerated zero-temperature upper critical field.