No Arabic abstract
In a recent Letter [J. K. Dong et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 104, 087005 (2010)], Dong textit{et al}. have observed a $T^{1.5}$ dependence of resistivity $rho$ in KFe$_2$As$_2$ at the upper critical field $B_{c2}$ = 5 T parallel to the c axis and have suggested the existence of a field-induced quantum critical point (QCP) at $B_{c2}$. In this comment, we argue that observation of a $T^{1.5}$ dependence of $rho$ in a sample showing broad resistive transitions does not constitute evidence for a QCP and that recent dHvA results do not support the proposed QCP.
Reply to comment by T. Terashima et al. on Quantum criticality and nodal superconductivity in the FeAs-based superconductor KFe$_2$As$_2$
High-quality K(Fe$_{1-x}$Co$_x$)$_2$As$_2$ single crystals have been grown by using KAs flux method. Instead of increasing the superconducting transition temperature $T_{rm c}$ through electron doping, we find that Co impurities rapidly suppress $T_{rm c}$ down to zero at only $x approx$ 0.04. Such an effective suppression of $T_{rm c}$ by impurities is quite different from that observed in Ba$_{0.5}$K$_{0.5}$Fe$_2$As$_2$ with multiple nodeless superconducting gaps. Thermal conductivity measurements in zero field show that the residual linear term $kappa_0/T$ only change slightly with $3.4%$ Co doping, despite the sharp increase of scattering rate. The implications of these anomalous impurity effects are discussed.
The thermal conductivity of iron-based superconductor CsFe$_2$As$_2$ single crystal ($T_c =$ 1.81 K) was measured down to 50 mK. A significant residual linear term $kappa_0/T$ = 1.27 mW K$^{-2}$ cm$^{-1}$ is observed in zero magnetic field, which is about 1/10 of the normal-state value in upper critical field $H_{c2}$. In low magnetic field, $kappa_0/T$ increases rapidly with field. The overall field dependence of $kappa_0/T$ for our CsFe$_2$As$_2$ (with residual resistivity $rho_0$ = 1.80 $muOmega$ cm) lies between the dirty KFe$_2$As$_2$ (with $rho_0$ = 3.32 $muOmega$ cm) and the clean KFe$_2$As$_2$ (with $rho_0$ = 0.21 $muOmega$ cm). These results strongly suggest nodal superconducting gap in CsFe$_2$As$_2$, similar to its sister compound KFe$_2$As$_2$.
We find evidence that the newly discovered Fe-based superconductor KCa$_2$Fe$_4$As$_4$F$_2$ ($T_c~=~33.36(7)$~K) displays multigap superconductivity with line nodes. Transverse field muon spin rotation ($mu$SR) measurements show that the temperature dependence of the superfluid density does not have the expected behavior of a fully-gapped superconductor, due to the lack of saturation at low temperatures. Moreover, the data cannot be well fitted using either single band models or a multiband $s$-wave model, yet are well described by two-gap models with line nodes on either one or both of the gaps. Meanwhile the zero-field $mu$SR results indicate a lack of time reversal symmetry breaking in the superconducting state, but suggest the presence of magnetic fluctuations. These results demonstrate a different route for realizing nodal superconductivity in iron-based superconductors. Here the gap structure is drastically altered upon replacing one of the spacer layers, indicating the need to understand how the pairing state is tuned by changes of the asymmetry between the pnictogens located either side of the Fe planes.
In this paper the low-temperature properties of two isostructural canonical heavy-fermion compounds are contrasted with regards to the interplay between antiferromagnetic (AF) quantum criticality and superconductivity. For CeCu$_2$Si$_2$, fully-gapped d-wave superconductivity forms in the vicinity of an itinerant three-dimensional heavy-fermion spin-density-wave (SDW) quantum critical point (QCP). Inelastic neutron scattering results highlight that both quantum critical SDW fluctuations as well as Mott-type fluctuations of local magnetic moments contribute to the formation of Cooper pairs in CeCu$_2$Si$_2$. In YbRh$_2$Si$_2$, superconductivity appears to be suppressed at $Tgtrsim~10$ mK by AF order ($T_N$ = 70 mK). Ultra-low temperature measurements reveal a hybrid order between nuclear and 4f-electronic spins, which is dominated by the Yb-derived nuclear spins, to develop at $T_A$ slightly above 2 mK. The hybrid order turns out to strongly compete with the primary 4f-electronic order and to push the material towards its QCP. Apparently, this paves the way for heavy-fermion superconductivity to form at $T_c$ = 2 mK. Like the pressure - induced QCP in CeRhIn$_5$, the magnetic field - induced one in YbRh$_2$Si$_2$ is of the local Kondo-destroying variety which corresponds to a Mott-type transition at zero temperature. Therefore, these materials form the link between the large family of about fifty low-$T$ unconventional heavy - fermion superconductors and other families of unconventional superconductors with higher $T_c$s, notably the doped Mott insulators of the cuprates, organic charge-transfer salts and some of the Fe-based superconductors. Our study suggests that heavy-fermion superconductivity near an AF QCP is a robust phenomenon.