Evidence for a cos(4φ) modulation of the superconducting energy gap of optimally doped FeTe(0.6)Se(0.4) single crystals using laser angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy.

We study the superconducting(SC)-gap anisotropy of the \Gamma-centered hole Fermi surface in optimally doped FeTe_{0.6}Se_{0.4} (T_c = 14.5 K), using laser-excited angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy (ARPES). We observe sharp superconducting coherence peaks at T = 2.5 K. In contrast to earlier ARPES studies but consistent with thermodynamic results, the momentum dependence shows a \cos(4\varphi) modulation of the SC-gap anisotropy. The observed SC-gap anisotropy strongly indicates that the pairing interaction is not a conventional phonon-mediated isotropic one. Instead, the results suggest the importance of second-nearest-neighbor electronic interactions between the iron sites in the framework of s_\pm-wave superconductivity.