No Arabic abstract
We report a $^{23}$Na and $^{75}$As nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) investigation of Na$_{x}$FeAs series ($x=1$, 0.9, 0.8) exhibiting a spin-density wave (SDW) order below $T_{rm SDW}=45$, 50 and 43 K for $x=1$, 0.9, 0.8, respectively, and a bulk superconductivity below $T_capprox 12$ K for x=0.9. Below $T_{rm SDW}$, a spin-lattice relaxation reveals the presence of gapless particle-hole excitations in the whole $x$ range, meaning that a portion of the Fermi surface remains gapless. The superconducting fraction as deduced from the bulk susceptibility scales with this portion, while the SDW order parameter as deduced from the NMR linewidth scales inversely with it. The NMR lineshape can only be reproduced assuming an incommensurate (IC) SDW. These findings qualitatively correspond to the mean-field models of competing interband magnetism and intraband superconductivity, which lead to an IC SDW order coexisting with superconductivity in part of the phase diagram.
We report an optical investigation on the in-plane charge dynamics for Na$_{1-delta}$FeAs single crystal. A clear optical evidence for the spin-density wave (SDW) gap is observed. As the structural/magnetic transitions are separated in the Na$_{1-delta}$FeAs case, we find the SDW gap opens in accordance with the magnetic transition. Comparing with the optical response of other FeAs-based parent compounds, both the gap value 2$Delta$ and the energy scale for the gap-induced spectral weight redistribution are smaller in Na$_{1-delta}$FeAs. Our findings support the itinerant origin of the antiferromagnetic transition in the FeAs-based system.
Co nuclear-quadrupole-resonance (NQR) measurements were performed on various bilayered hydrate cobaltate Na_x(H_3O)_zCoO_2cdot yH_2O with different values of the superconducting and magnetic-ordering temperatures, T_c and T_M, respectively. From measurements of the temperature and sample dependence of the NQR frequency, it was revealed that the NQR frequency is changed by the change of the electric field gradient (EFG) along the c axis u_{zz} rather than the asymmetry of EFG within the ab-plane. In addition, it is considered that the change of u_{zz} is gaverned mainly by the trigonal distortion of the CoO_2 block layers along the c axis, from the relationships between u_{zz} and the various physical parameters. We found the tendency that samples with u_{zz} larger than 4.2 MHz show magnetic ordering, whereas samples with lower u_{zz} show superconductivity. We measured the nuclear spin-lattice relaxation rate 1/T_1 in these samples, and found that magnetic fluctuations depend on samples. The higher- u_{zz} sample has stronger magnetic fluctuations at T_c. From the relationship between u_{zz} and T_c or T_M, we suggest that the NQR frequency can be regarded as a tuning parameter to determine the ground state of the system, and develop the phase diagram using u_{zz}. This phase diagram shows that the highest-T_c sample is located at the point where T_M is considered to be zero, which suggests that the superconductivity is induced by quantum critical fluctuations. We strongly advocate that the hydrate cobaltate superconductor presents an example of the magnetic-fluctuation-mediated superconductivity argued in the heavy-fermion compounds. The coexistence of superconductivity and magnetism observed in the sample with the highest u_{zz} is also discussed on the basis of the results of our experiments.
A series of layered CeO$_{1-x}$F$_x$FeAs compounds with x=0 to 0.20 are synthesized by solid state reaction method. Similar to the LaOFeAs, the pure CeOFeAs shows a strong resistivity anomaly near 145 K, which was ascribed to the spin-density-wave instability. F-doping suppresses this instability and leads to the superconducting ground state. Most surprisingly, the superconducting transition temperature could reach as high as 41 K. The very high superconducting transition temperature strongly challenges the classic BCS theory based on the electron-phonon interaction. The very closeness of the superconducting phase to the spin-density-wave instability suggests that the magnetic fluctuations play a key role in the superconducting paring mechanism. The study also reveals that the Ce 4f electrons form local moments and ordered antiferromagnetically below 4 K, which could coexist with superconductivity.
The interplay between different ordered phases, such as superconducting, charge or spin ordered phases, is of central interest in condensed matter physics. The very recent discovery of superconductivity with a remarkable T$_c$= 26 K in Fe-based oxypnictide La(O$_{1-x}$F$_x$)FeAs is a surprise to the scientific communitycite{Kamihara08}. The pure LaOFeAs itself is not superconducting but shows an anomaly near 150 K in both resistivity and dc magnetic susceptibility. Here we provide combined experimental and theoretical evidences showing that the anomaly is caused by the spin-density-wave (SDW) instability, and electron-doping by F suppresses the SDW instability and recovers the superconductivity. Therefore, the La(O$_{1-x}$F$_x$)FeAs offers an exciting new system showing competing orders in layered compounds.
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.