Anisotropic Phase Diagram and Superconducting Fluctuations in SmFeAsO0.85F0.15


Abstract in English

We report on the specific heat determination of the anisotropic phase diagram of single crystals of optimally doped SmFeAsO1-xFx. In zero-field, the optimally doped compound displays a clear cusp-like anomaly in C/T with {Delta}C/Tc = 24 mJ/molK2 at Tc = 49.5 K. In magnetic fields applied along the c-axis, we find pronounced superconducting fluctuations induced broadening and suppression of the specific heat anomaly which can be described using three-dimensional lowest-Landau-level scaling with an upper critical field slope of -3.5 T/K and an anisotropy of {Gamma} = 8. The small value of {Delta}C/Tc yields a Sommerfeld coefficient {gamma} ~ 8 mJ/molK2 indicating that SmFeAsO1-xFx is characterized by a modest density of states and strong coupling.

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