Electrical-resistivity and magnetic-susceptibility measurements under hydrostatic pressure up to p = 2.75 GPa have been performed on superconducting LiFeP. A broad superconducting (SC) region exists in the temperature - pressure (T-p) phase diagram. No indications for a spin-density-wave transition have been found, but an enhanced resistivity coefficient at low pressures hints at the presence of magnetic fluctuations. Our results show that the superconducting state in LiFeP is more robust than in the isostructural and isoelectronic LiFeAs. We suggest that this finding is related to the nearly regular [FeP_4] tetrahedron in LiFeP.
A new iron pnictide LiFeP superconductor was found. The compound crystallizes into a Cu2Sb structure containing an FeP layer showing superconductivity with maximum Tc of 6K. This is the first 111 type iron pnictide superconductor containing no arsenic. The new superconductor is featured with itinerant behavior at normal state that could helpful to understand the novel superconducting mechanism of iron pnictide compounds.
We report a sudden reversal in the pressure dependence of Tc in the iron-based superconductor RbFe2As2, at a critical pressure Pc = 11 kbar. Combined with our prior results on KFe2As2 and CsFe2As2, we find a universal V-shaped phase diagram for Tc vs P in these fully hole-doped 122 materials, when measured relative to the critical point (Pc, Tc). From measurements of the upper critical field Hc2(T) under pressure in KFe2As2 and RbFe2As2, we observe the same two-fold jump in (1/Tc)(-dHc2/dT) across Pc, compelling evidence for a sudden change in the structure of the superconducting gap. We argue that this change is due to a transition from one pairing state to another, with different symmetries on either side of Pc. We discuss a possible link between scattering and pairing, and a scenario where a d-wave state favored by high-Q scattering at low pressure changes to a state with s+- symmetry favored by low-Q scattering at high pressure.
The recently discovered (Rb,Cs)EuFe4As4 compounds exhibit an unusual combination of superconductivity (Tc = 35 K) and ferromagnetism (Tm = 15 K). We have performed a series of x-ray diffraction, ac magnetic susceptibility, dc magnetization, and electrical resistivity measurements on both RbEuFe4As4 and CsEuFe4As4 to pressures as high as 30 GPa. We find that the superconductivity onset is suppressed monotonically by pressure while the magnetic transition is enhanced at initial rates of dTm/dP = 1.7 K/GPa and 1.5 K/GPa for RbEuFe4As4 and CsEuFe4As4, respectively. Near 7 GPa, Tc onset and Tm become comparable. At higher pressures, signatures of bulk superconductivity gradually disappear. Room temperature x-ray diffraction measurements suggest the onset of a transition from tetragonal (T) to a half collapsed-tetragonal (hcT) phase at 10 GPa (RbEuFe4As4) and 12 GPa (CsEuFe4As4). The ability to tune Tc and Tm into coincidence with relatively modest pressures highlights (Rb,Cs)EuFe4As4 compounds as ideal systems to study the interplay of superconductivity and ferromagnetism.
We have performed high-resolution angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy on Fe-based superconductor LiFeAs (Tc = 18 K). We reveal multiple nodeless superconducting (SC) gaps with 2D/kBTc ratios varying from 2.8 to 6.4, depending on the Fermi surface (FS). We also succeeded in directly observing a gap anisotropy along the FS with magnitude up to ~30 %. The anisotropy is four-fold symmetric with an antiphase between the hole and electron FSs, suggesting complex anisotropic interactions for the SC pairing. The observed momentum dependence of the SC gap offers an excellent opportunity to investigate the underlying pairing mechanism.
We present the first comprehensive derivation of the intrinsic electronic phase diagram of the iron-oxypnictide superconductors in the normal state based on the analysis of the electrical resistivity $rho$ of both LaFeAsO$_{1-x}$F$_x$ and SmFeAsO$_{1-x}$F$_x$ for a wide range of doping. Our data give clear-cut evidence for unusual normal state properties in these new materials. In particular, the emergence of superconductivity at low doping levels is accompanied by distinct anomalous transport behavior in $rho$ of the normal state which is reminiscent of the spin density wave (SDW) signature in the parent material. At higher doping levels $rho$ of LaFeAsO$_{1-x}$F$_x$ shows a clear transition from this pseudogap-like behavior to Fermi liquid-like behavior, mimicking the phase diagram of the cuprates. Moreover, our data reveal a correlation between the strength of the anomalous features and the stability of the superconducting phase. The pseudogap-like features become stronger in SmFeAsO$_{1-x}$F$_x$ where superconductivity is enhanced and vanish when superconductivity is reduced in the doping region with Fermi liquid-like behavior.