A new iron arsenide superconducting system LiFeAs was found that crystallizes into a tetragonal structure with space group P4/nmm. The superconductivity with Tc up to 18 K was observed in the compounds. This simple 111 type layered iron arsenide superconductor can be viewed as an analogue of the infinite layer structure of copper oxides.
We report here that a new superconducting phase with much higher Tc has been found in K intercalated FeSe compound with excess Fe. We successfully grew crystals by precisely controlling the starting amount of Fe. Besides the superconducting (SC) transition at ~30 K, we observed a sharp drop in resistivity and a kink in susceptibility at 44 K. By combining thermodynamic measurements with electron spin resonance (ESR), we demonstrate that this is a new SC transition. Structural analysis unambiguously reveals two phases coexisting in the crystals, which are responsible respectively for the SC transitions at 30 and 44 K. The structural experiments and first-principles calculations consistently indicate that the 44 K SC phase is close to a 122 structure, but with an unexpectedly large c-axis of 18.10 {AA}. We further find a novel monotonic dependence of the maximum Tc on the separation of neighbouring FeSe layers.
The lithium ions in Lithium iron arsenide phases with compositions close to LiFeAs have been located using powder neutron diffraction. These phases exhibit superconductivity at temperatures at least as high as 16 K demonstrating that superconductivity in compounds with [FeAs]- anti-PbO-type anionic layers occurs in compounds with at least three different structure types and occurs for a wide range of As-Fe-As bond angles.
Here we report the fabrication and superconductivity of the iron-based arsenic-oxide GdFeAsO1-delta compound with oxygen-deficiency, which has an onset resistivity transition temperature at 53.5 K. This material has a same crystal structure as the newly discovered high-Tc ReFeAsO1-delta family (Re = rare earth metal) and a further reduced crystal lattice, while the Tc starts to decrease compared with the SmFeAsO1-delta system.
We report superconductivity in as synthesized Nb2PdSe5, which is similar to recently discovered Nb2PdS5 compound having very high upper critical field, clearly above the Pauli paramagnetic limit [Sci. Rep. 3, 1446 (2013)]. A bulk polycrystalline Nb2PdSe5 sample is synthesized by solid state reaction route in phase pure structure. The structural characterization has been done by X ray diffraction, followed by Rietveld refinements, which revealed that Nb2PdSe5 sample is crystallized in monoclinic structure with in space group C2/m. Structural analysis revealed the formation of sharing of one dimensional PdSe2 chains. Electrical and magnetic measurements confirmed superconductivity in Nb2PdSe5 compound at 5.5K. Detailed magneto-resistance results, exhibited the value of upper critical field to be around 8.2Tesla. The estimated Hc2(0) is within Pauli Paramagnetic limit, which is unlike the Nb2PdS5.
EuFe2As2 is a member of the ternary iron arsenide family. Similar to BaFe2As2 and SrFe2As2, EuFe2As2 exhibits a clear anomaly in resistivity near 200 K. It suggests that EuFe2As2 is another promising parent compound in which superconductivity may be realized by appropriate doping. Here we report the discovery of superconductivity in Eu0.7Na0.3Fe2As2 by partial substitution of the europium site with sodium. ThCr2Si2 tetragonal structure, as expected for EuFe2As2, is formed as the main phase for the composition Eu0.7Na0.3Fe2As2. Resistivity measurement reveals a transition temperature as high as 34.7 K in this compound, which is higher than the Tc of Eu0.5K0.5Fe2As2.