No Arabic abstract
We have constructed a pressure$-$temperature ($P-T$) phase diagram of $P$-induced superconductivity in EuFe$_2$As$_2$ single crystals, via resistivity ($rho$) measurements up to 3.2 GPa. As hydrostatic pressure is applied, an antiferromagnetic (AF) transition attributed to the FeAs layers at $T_mathrm{0}$ shifts to lower temperatures, and the corresponding resistive anomaly becomes undetectable for $P$ $ge$ 2.5 GPa. This suggests that the critical pressure $P_mathrm{c}$ where $T_mathrm{0}$ becomes zero is about 2.5 GPa. We have found that the AF order of the Eu$^{2+}$ moments survives up to 3.2 GPa without significant changes in the AF ordering temperature $T_mathrm{N}$. The superconducting (SC) ground state with a sharp transition to zero resistivity at $T_mathrm{c}$ $sim$ 30 K, indicative of bulk superconductivity, emerges in a pressure range from $P_mathrm{c}$ $sim$ 2.5 GPa to $sim$ 3.0 GPa. At pressures close to but outside the SC phase, the $rho(T)$ curve shows a partial SC transition (i.e., zero resistivity is not attained) followed by a reentrant-like hump at approximately $T_mathrm{N}$ with decreasing temperature. When nonhydrostatic pressure with a uniaxial-like strain component is applied using a solid pressure medium, the partial superconductivity is continuously observed in a wide pressure range from 1.1 GPa to 3.2 GPa.
Resistivity and Hall effect measurements of EuFe$_2$As$_2$ up to 3.2,GPa indicate no divergence of quasiparticle effective mass at the pressure $P_mathrm{c}$ where the magnetic and structural transition disappears. This is corroborated by analysis of the temperature ($T$) dependence of the upper critical field. $T$-linear resistivity is observed at pressures slightly above $P_mathrm{c}$. The scattering rates for both electrons and holes are shown to be approximately $T$-linear. When a field is applied, a $T^2$ dependence is recovered, indicating that the origin of the $T$-linear dependence is spin fluctuations.
We investigate the pressure and temperature dependence of the lattice dynamics of the underdoped, stoichiometric, high temperature superconductor YBa2Cu4O8 by means of Raman spectroscopy and ab initio calculations. This system undergoes a reversible pressure-induced structural phase transition around 10 GPa to a collapsed orthorhombic structure, that is well reproduced by the calculation. The coupling of the B1g-like buckling phonon mode to the electronic continuum is used to probe superconductivity. In the low pressure phase, self-energy effects through the superconducting transition renormalize this phonon, and the amplitude of this renormalization strongly increases with pressure. Whereas our calculation indicates that this modes coupling to the electronic system is only marginally affected by the structural phase transition, the aforementioned renormalization is completely suppressed in the high pressure phase, demonstrating that under hydrostatic pressures higher than 10 GPa, superconductivity in YBa2Cu4O8 is greatly weakened or obliterated.
High-pressure electrical resistivity measurements up to 3.0GPa have been performed on EuFe2As2 single crystals with residual resistivity ratios RRR=7 and 15. At ambient pressure, a magnetic / structural transition related to FeAs-layers is observed at T0 =190K and 194K for samples with RRR=7 and 15, respectively. Application of hydrostatic pressure suppresses T0, and then induces similar superconducting behavior in the samples with different RRR values. However, the critical pressure 2.7GPa, where T0=0, for the samples with RRR=15 is slightly but distinctly larger than 2.5GPa for the samples with RRR=7.
We report measurements of resistance and ac magnetic susceptibility on FeSe single crystals under high pressure up to 27.2 kbar. The structural phase transition is quickly suppressed with pressure, and the associated anomaly is not seen above $sim$18 kbar. The superconducting transition temperature evolves nonmonotonically with pressure, showing a minimum at $sim12$ kbar. We find another anomaly at 21.2 K at 11.6 kbar. This anomaly most likely corresponds to the antiferromagnetic phase transition found in $mu$SR measurements [M. Bendele textit{et al.}, Phys. Rev. Lett. textbf{104}, 087003 (2010)]. The antiferromagnetic and superconducting transition temperatures both increase with pressure up to $sim25$ kbar and then level off. The width of the superconducting transition anomalously broadens in the pressure range where the antiferromagnetism coexists.
We report $^{123}$Sb nuclear quadrupole resonance (NQR) measurements of the filled skutterudite heavy-fermion superconductor PrOs$_4$Sb$_{12}$ under high pressure. The temperature dependence of NQR frequency and the spin-lattice relaxation rate $1/T_1$ indicate that the crystal-electric-field splitting $Delta_{rm CEF}$ between the ground state $Gamma_1$ singlet and the first excited state $Gamma_4^{(2)}$ triplet decreases with increasing pressure. Ac-susceptibility measurements indicate that the superconducting transition temperature ($T_{rm c}$) also decreases with increasing pressure. However, above $P$ $sim$ 2 GPa, both $Delta_{rm CEF}$ and $T_{rm c}$ do not depend on external pressure up to $P$ = 3.82 GPa. These pressure dependences of $Delta_{rm CEF}$ and $T_{rm c}$ suggest an intimate relationship between quadrupole excitations associated with the $Gamma_4^{(2)}$ level and unconventional superconductivity in PrOs$_4$Sb$_{12}$. In the superconducting state, 1/$T_1$ below $T_{rm c}$ = 1.55 and 1.57 K at $P$ = 1.91 and 2.63 GPa shows a power-law temperature variations and are proportional to $T^5$ at temperatures considerably below $T_{rm c}$. These data can be well fitted by the gap model $Delta(theta) = Delta_0sintheta$ with $Delta_0$ = 3.08 $k_{rm B}T_{rm c}$ and 3.04 $k_{rm B}T_{rm c}$ for $P$ = 1.91 and 2.63 GPa, respectively. The results indicate there exists point nodes in the gap function.