No Arabic abstract
75As NMR and susceptiblity were measured in a Ba(Fe1-xCox)2As2 single crystal for x=6%. Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) spectra and relaxation rates allow to show that all Fe sites experience an incommensurate magnetic ordering below T=31K. Comparison with undoped compound allows to estimate a typical moment of 0.05 muB. Anisotropy of the NMR widths can be interpreted using a model of incommensurability with a wavevector (1/2-eps,0,l) with eps of the order of 0.04. Below TC=21.8K, a full volume superconductivity develops as shown by susceptibility and relaxation rate, and magnetic order remains unaffected, demonstrating coexistence of both states on each Fe site.
75As NMR and susceptiblity were measured in a Ba(Fe1-xCox)2As2 single crystal for x=6% for various field H values and orientations. The sharpness of the superconducting and magnetic transitions demonstrates a homogeneity of the Co doping x better than +-0.25%. On the nanometer scale, the paramagnetic part of the NMR spectra is found very anisotropic and very narrow for H//ab which allows to rule out the interpretation of Ref.[6] in terms of strong Co induced electronic inhomogeneities. We propose that a distribution of hyperfine couplings and chemical shifts due to the Co effect on its nearest As explains the observed linewidths and relaxations. All these measurements show that Co substitution induces a very homogeneous electronic doping in BaFe2As2, from nano to micrometer lengthscales, on the contrary to the K doping.
We investigated the elastic properties of the iron-based superconductor Ba(Fe1-xCox)2As2 with eight Co concentrations. The elastic constant C66 shows large elastic softening associated with the structural phase transition. The C66 was analyzed base on localized and itinerant pictures of Fe-3d electrons, which shows the strong electron-lattice coupling and a possible mass enhancement in this system. The results resemble those of unconventional superconductors, where the properties of the system are governed by the quantum fluctuations associated with the zero-temperature critical point of the long-range order; namely, the quantum critical point (QCP). In this system, the inverse of C66 behaves just like the magnetic susceptibility in the magnetic QCP systems. While the QCPs of these existing superconductors are all ascribed to antiferromagnetism, our systematic studies on the canonical iron-based superconductor Ba(Fe1-xCox)2As2 have revealed that there is a signature of structural quantum criticality in this material, which is so far without precedent. The elastic constant anomaly is suggested to concern with the emergence of superconductivity. These results highlight the strong electron-lattice coupling and effect of the band in this system, thus challenging the prevailing scenarios that focus on the role of the iron 3d-orbitals.
We report muon spin rotation ($mu$SR) measurements of single crystal Ba(Fe$_{1-x}$Co$_x$)$_2$As$_2$ and Sr(Fe$_{1-x}$Co$_x$)$_2$As$_2$. From measurements of the magnetic field penetration depth $lambda$ we find that for optimally- and over-doped samples, $1/lambda(Tto 0)^2$ varies monotonically with the superconducting transition temperature T$_{rm C}$. Within the superconducting state we observe a positive shift in the muon precession signal, likely indicating that the applied field induces an internal magnetic field. The size of the induced field decreases with increasing doping but is present for all Co concentrations studied.
Inelastic neutron scattering measurements have been performed on underdoped Ba(Fe1-xCox)2As2 (x = 4.7%) where superconductivity and long-range antiferromagnetic (AFM) order coexist. The broad magnetic spectrum found in the normal state develops into a magnetic resonance feature below TC that has appreciable dispersion along c-axis with a bandwidth of 3-4 meV. This is in contrast to the optimally doped x = 8.0% composition, with no long-range AFM order, where the resonance exhibits a much weaker dispersion [see Lumsden et al. Phys. Rev. Lett. 102, 107005 (2009)]. The results suggest that the resonance dispersion arises from interlayer spin correlations present in the AFM ordered state.
Recent nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) measurements revealed the coexistence of stripe-type antiferromagnetic (AFM) and ferromagnetic (FM) spin correlations in both the hole- and electron-doped BaFe$_2$As$_2$ families of iron-pnictide superconductors by a Korringa ratio analysis. Motivated by the NMR work, we investigate the possible existence of FM fluctuations in another iron pnictide superconducting family, Ca(Fe$_{1-x}$Co$_x$)$_2$As$_2$. We re-analyzed our previously reported data in terms of the Korringa ratio and found clear evidence for the coexistence of stripe-type AFM and FM spin correlations in the electron-doped CaFe$_2$As$_2$ system. These NMR data indicate that FM fluctuations exist in general in iron-pnictide superconducting families and thus must be included to capture the phenomenology of the iron pnictides.