Interface-enhanced electron-phonon coupling and high-temperature superconductivity in potassium-coated ultrathin FeSe films on SrTiO3

Alkali-metal (potassium) adsorption on FeSe thin films with thickness from 2 unit cells (UC) to 4 UC on SrTiO3 grown by molecular beam epitaxy is investigated with a low-temperature scanning tunneling microscope. At appropriate potassium coverage (0.20-0.25 monolayer), the tunneling spectra of the films all exhibit a superconductinglike gap which is overall larger than 11 meV (five times the gap value of bulk FeSe) and decreases with increasing thickness, and two distinct features of characteristic phonon modes at ∼11 and ∼21 meV. The results reveal the critical role of the interface-enhanced electron-phonon coupling for possible high-temperature superconductivity in ultrathin FeSe films on SrTiO3 and is consistent with recent theories. Our study provides compelling evidence for the conventional pairing mechanism for this type of heterostructure superconducting system.