No Arabic abstract
Temperature dependence of the upper critical magnetic field (Hc2) of single crystalline FeTe0.5Se0.5 (Tc = 14.5 K) have been determined by tunnel diode oscillator-based measurements in magnetic fields of up to 55 T and temperatures down to 1.6 K. The Werthamer-Helfand-Hohenberg model accounts for the data for magnetic field applied both parallel (H || ab) and perpendicular (H || c) to the iron conducting plane, in line with a single band superconductivity. Whereas Pauli pair breaking is negligible for H || c, Pauli contribution is evidenced for H || ab with Maki parameter alpha= 1.4, corresponding to Pauli field HP = 79 T. As a result, the Hc2 anisotropy (= Habc2 /Hcc2) which is already rather small at Tc (gamma = 1.6) further decreases as the temperature decreases and becomes smaller than 1 at liquid helium temperatures.
The London penetration depth $lambda$ is the basic length scale for electromagnetic behavior in a superconductor. Precise measurements of $lambda$ as a function of temperature, field, and impurity scattering have been instrumental in revealing the nature of the order parameter and pairing interactions in a variety of superconductors discovered over the past decades. Here we recount our development of the tunnel-diode resonator technique to measure $lambda$ as a function of temperature and field in small single crystal samples. We discuss the principles and applications of this technique to study unconventional superconductivity in the copper oxides and other materials such as iron-based superconductors. The technique has now been employed by several groups worldwide as a precision measurement tool for the exploration of new superconductors.
The superconducting parameters and upper critical field of the noncentrosymmetric superconductor BiPd have proven contentious. This material is of particular interest because it is a singular example of a $4f$-electron-free noncentrosymmetric superconductor of which crystals may be grown and cleaved, enabling surface-sensitive spectroscopies. Here, using bulk probes augmented by tunnelling data on defects, we establish that the lower of the previously reported upper critical fields corresponds to the bulk transition. The material behaves as a nearly-weak-coupled BCS s-wave superconductor, and we report its superconducting parameters as drawn from the bulk upper critical field. Possible reasons behind the order-of-magnitude discrepancy in the reported upper critical fields are discussed.
We present temperature dependences of the upper critical magnetic field and the Ginzburg-Landau parameter for a ternary boride superconductor Li_2Pd_3B obtained from magnetization measurements. A specially developed scaling approach was used for the data analysis. The resulting H_c2(T) curve turns out to be surprisingly close to predictions of the BCS theory. The magnetic field penetration depth, evaluated in this work, is in excellent agreement with recent muon-spin-rotation experiments. We consider this agreement as an important proof of the validity of our approach.
We report measurements of the temperature dependence of the radio-frequency magnetic penetration depth in Ba_0.68K_0.32Fe_2As_2 and Ba(Fe_0.93Co_0.07)_2As_2 single crystals in pulsed magnetic fields up to 60 T. From our data, we construct an H-T phase diagram for the inter-plane (H || c) and in-plane (H || ab) directions for both compounds. For both field orientations in Ba_0.68K_0.32Fe_2As_2, we find a concave curvature of the Hc2(T) lines with decreasing anisotropy and saturation towards lower temperature. Taking into account Pauli spin paramagnetism we can describe Hc2(T) and its anisotropy. In contrast, we find that Pauli paramagnetic pair breaking is not essential for Ba(Fe_0.93Co_0.07)_2As_2. For this electron-doped compound, the data support a Hc2(T) dependence that can be described by the Werthamer Helfand Hohenberg model for H || ab and a two-gap behavior for H || c.
The H-T phase diagrams of single crystalline electron-doped K0.83Fe1.83Se2 (KFS1), K0.8Fe2Se2 (KFS2) and hole-doped Eu0.5K0.5Fe2As2 (EKFA) have been deduced from tunnel diode oscillator-based contactless measurements in pulsed magnetic fields up to 57 T for the inter-plane (H//c) and in-plane (H//ab) directions. The temperature dependence of the upper critical magnetic field Hc2(T) relevant to EFKA is accounted for by the Pauli model including an anisotropic Pauli paramagnetic contribution (mu_BHp=114 T for H//ab and 86 T for H//c). This is also the case of KFS1 and KFS2 for H//ab whereas a significant upward curvature, accounted for by a two-gap model, is observed for H//c. Despite the presence of antiferromagnetic lattice order within the superconducting state of the studied compounds, no influence of magnetic ordering on the temperature dependence of Hc2(T) is observed.