No Arabic abstract
We report 75As-NQR/NMR studies on the oxygen-deficient iron(Fe)-based oxypnictide superconductors LaFeAsO_{0.6} (T_c=28 K) along with the results on LaFeAsO, LaFeAsO_{0.75}(T_c=20 K) and NdFeAsO_{0.6}(T_c=53 K). Nuclear spin-lattice relaxation rate 1/T_1 of 75As NQR at zero field on LaFeAsO_{0.6} has revealed a T^3 dependence below T_c upon cooling without the coherence peak just below T_c, evidencing the unconventional superconducting state with the line-node gap. We have found an intimate relationship between the nuclear quadrupole frequencyof 75As and T_c for four samples used in this study. It implies microscopically that the local configuration of Fe and As atoms is significantly related to the T_c of the Fe-oxypnictide superconductors, namely, the T_c can be enhanced up to 50 K when the local configuration of Fe and As atoms is optimal, in which the band structure may be also optimized through the variation of hybridization between As 4p orbitals and Fe 3d orbitals.
We report systematic 57Fe-NMR and 75As-NMR/NQR studies on an underdoped sample (T_c=20 K), an optimally doped sample (T_c=28 K), and an overdoped sample (T_c=22 K) of oxygen-deficient iron (Fe)-based oxypnictide superconductor LaFeAsO_{1-y}$. A microscopic phase separation between superconducting domains and magnetic domains is shown to take place in the underdoped sample, indicating a local inhomogeneity in association with the density distribution of oxygen deficiencies. As a result, 1/T_1T in the normal state of the superconducting domain decreases significantly upon cooling at both the Fe and As sites regardless of the electron-doping level in LaFeAsO_{1-y}. On the basis of this result, we claim that $1/T_1T$ is not always enhanced by antiferromagnetic fluctuations close to an antiferromagnetic phase in the underdoped superconducting sample. This contrasts with the behavior in hole-doped Ba_{0.6}K_{0.4}Fe2As2(T_c= 38 K), which exhibits a significant increase in $1/T_1T$ upon cooling. We remark that the crucial difference between the normal-state properties of LaFeAsO_{1-y} and Ba_{0.6}K_{0.4}Fe2As2 originates from the fact that the relevant Fermi surface topologies are differently modified depending on whether electrons or holes are doped into the FeAs layers.
We discuss the novel superconducting characteristics and unusual normal-state properties of iron (Fe)-based pnictide superconductors REFeAsO$_{1-y}$ (RE=La,Pr,Nd) and Ba$_{0.6}$K$_{0.4}$Fe$_2$As$_2$($T_{c}=$ 38 K) by means of $^{57}$Fe-NMR and $^{75}$As-NQR/NMR. In the superconducting state of LaFeAsO$_{0.7}$ ($T_{c}=$ 28 K), the spin component of the $^{57}$Fe-Knight shift decreases to almost zero at low temperatures, which provide firm evidence of the superconducting state formed by spin-singlet Cooper pairing. The nuclear spin-lattice relaxation rates $(1/T_{1})$ in LaFeAsO$_{0.7}$ and Ba$_{0.6}$K$_{0.4}$Fe$_2$As$_2$ exhibit a $T^{3}$-like dependence without a coherence peak just below $T_{c}$, indicating that an unconventional superconducting state is commonly realized in these Fe-based pnictide compounds. All these events below $T_c$ are consistently argued in terms of an extended s$_{pm}$-wave pairing with a sign reversal of the order parameter among Fermi surfaces. In the normal state, $1/T_1T$ decreases remarkably upon cooling for both the Fe and As sites of LaFeAsO$_{0.7}$. In contrast, it gradually increases upon cooling in Ba$_{0.6}$K$_{0.4}$Fe$_2$As$_2$. Despite the similarity between the superconducting properties of these compounds, a crucial difference was observed in their normal-state properties depending on whether electrons or holes are doped into the FeAs layers. These results may provide some hint to address a possible mechanism of Fe-based pnictide superconductors.
Photoemission spectroscopy with low-energy tunable photons on oxygen-deficient iron-based oxypnictide superconductors NdFeAsO0.85 (Tc=52K) reveals a distinct photon-energy dependence of the electronic structure near the Fermi level (EF). A clear shift of the leading-edge can be observed in the superconducting states with 9.5 eV photons, while a clear Fermi cutoff with little leading-edge shift can be observed with 6.0 eV photons. The results are indicative of the superconducting gap opening not on the hole-like ones around Gamma (0,0) point but on the electron-like sheets around M(pi,pi) point.
$^{75}$As and $^{45}$Sc NMR measurements unravel the electronic state for Fe-based superconductors with perovskite-type blocking layers Ca$_4$(Mg,Ti)$_3$Fe$_2$As$_2$O$_{8-y}$ ($T_c^{onset}=47$ K) and Ca$_5$(Sc,Ti)$_4$Fe$_2$As$_2$O$_{11-y}$ ($T_c^{onset}=41$ K). In Ca$_5$(Sc,Ti)$_4$Fe$_2$As$_2$O$_{11-y}$, the nuclear spin relaxation rate $1/T_1$ shows pseudogap behavior below $sim80$ K, suggesting that the electronic state is similar to that of LaFeAs(O,F) system with moderate electron doping. The presence of the pseudogap behavior gives an interpretation that the hole-like band (so-called $gamma$ pocket) is located just below the Fermi level from the analogy to LaFeAs(O,F) system and the disappearance of the $gamma$ pocket yields the suppression of the low-energy spin fluctuations. On the other hand, in Ca$_4$(Mg,Ti)$_3$Fe$_2$As$_2$O$_{8-y}$ satisfying the structural optimal condition for higher $T_c$ among the perovskite systems, the extrinsic contribution, which presumably originates in the Ti moment, is observed in $1/T_1T$; however, the moderate temperature dependence of $1/T_1T$ appears by its suppression under high magnetic field. In both systems, the high $T_c$ of $sim40$ K is realized in the absence of the strong development of the low-energy spin fluctuations. The present results reveal that the structural optimization does not induce the strong development of the low-energy spin fluctuations. If we consider that superconductivity is mediated by spin fluctuations, the structural optimization is conjectured to provide a benefit to the development of the high-energy spin fluctuations irrespective to the low-energy part.
We report 75As-nuclear quadrupole resonance (NQR) studies on (Ca_4Al_2O_{6-y})(Fe_2As_2) with Tc=27K, which unravel unique normal-state properties and point to unconventional nodeless superconductivity (SC). Measurement of nuclear-spin-relaxation rate 1/T_1 has revealed a significant development of two dimensional (2D) antiferromagnetic (AFM) spin fluctuations down to Tc, in association with the fact that FeAs layers with the smallest As-Fe-As bond angle are well separated by thick perovskite-type blocking layer. Below Tc, the temperature dependence of 1/T_1 without any trace of the coherence peak is well accounted for by an s(+-)-wave multiple gaps model. From the fact that Tc=27K in this compound is comparable to Tc=28K in the optimally-doped LaFeAsO_{1-y} in which AFM spin fluctuations are not dominant, we remark that AFM spin fluctuations are not a unique factor for enhancing Tc among existing Fe-based superconductors, but a condition for optimizing SC should be addressed from the lattice structure point of view.