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Register a new userNearly ferromagnetic metal state in the collapsed tetragonal phase of YFe$_2$(Ge,Si)$_2$
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The surprising discovery of tripling the superconducting critical temperature of KFe$_2$As$_2$ at high pressures issued an intriguing question of how the superconductivity in the collapsed tetragonal phase differs from that in the non-collapsed phases of Fe-based superconductors. Here we report $^{89}$Y nuclear magnetic resonance study of YFe$_2$Ge$_{x}$Si$_{2-x}$ compounds whose electronic structure is similar to that of iron-pnictide collapsed tetragonal phases already at ambient pressure. Fe(Ge,Si) layers show strong ferromagnetic spin fluctuations whereas layers are coupled antiferromagnetically -- both positioning the studied family close to a quantum critical point. Next, localized moments attributed either to Fe interstitial or antisite defects may account for magnetic impurity pair-breaking effects thus explaining the substantial variation of superconductivity among different YFe$_2$Ge$_2$ samples.
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Since the discovery of superconductivity in LaFePO in 2006, numerous iron-based superconductors have been identified within diverse structure families, all of which combine iron with a group-V (pnictogen) or group-VI (chalco- gen) element. Unconventional superconductivity is extremely rare among transition metal compounds outside these layered iron systems and the cuprates, and it is almost universally associated with highly anisotropic electronic properties and nearly 2D Fermi surface geometries. The iron-based intermetallic YFe$_2$Ge$_2$ features a 3D Fermi surface and a strongly enhanced low temperature heat capacity, which signals strong electronic correlations. We present data from a new generation of high quality samples of YFe$_2$Ge$_2$, which show superconducting transition anomalies below 1.8 K in thermodynamic as well as transport measurements, establishing that superconductivity is intrinsic in this layered iron compound outside the known superconducting iron pnictide or chalcogenide families. The Fermi surface geometry of YFe$_2$Ge$_2$ resembles that of KFe$_2$As$_2$ in the high pressure collapsed tetragonal phase, in which superconductivity at temperatures as high as 10 K has recently been reported, suggesting an underlying connection between the two systems.
The structural properties of LaRu$_2$P$_2$ under external pressure have been studied up to 14 GPa, employing high-energy x-ray diffraction in a diamond-anvil pressure cell. At ambient conditions, LaRu$_2$P$_2$ (I4/mmm) has a tetragonal structure with a bulk modulus of $B=105(2)$ GPa and exhibits superconductivity at $T_c= 4.1$ K. With the application of pressure, LaRu$_2$P$_2$ undergoes a phase transition to a collapsed tetragonal (cT) state with a bulk modulus of $B=175(5)$ GPa. At the transition, the c-lattice parameter exhibits a sharp decrease with a concurrent increase of the a-lattice parameter. The cT phase transition in LaRu$_2$P$_2$ is consistent with a second order transition, and was found to be temperature dependent, increasing from $P=3.9(3)$ GPa at 160 K to $P=4.6(3)$ GPa at 300 K. In total, our data are consistent with the cT transition being near, but slightly above 2 GPa at 5 K. Finally, we compare the effect of physical and chemical pressure in the RRu$_2$P$_2$ (R = Y, La-Er, Yb) isostructural series of compounds and find them to be analogous.
We report neutron scattering measurements of single-crystalline YFe$_2$Ge$_2$ in the normal state, which has the same crystal structure to the 122 family of iron pnictide superconductors. YFe$_2$Ge$_2$ does not exhibit long range magnetic order, but exhibits strong spin fluctuations. Like the iron pnictides, YFe$_2$Ge$_2$ displays anisotropic stripe-type antiferromagnetic spin fluctuations at ($pi$, $0$, $pi$). More interesting, however, is the observation of strong spin fluctuations at the in-plane ferromagnetic wavevector ($0$, $0$, $pi$). These ferromagnetic spin fluctuations are isotropic in the ($H$, $K$) plane, whose intensity exceeds that of stripe spin fluctuations. Both the ferromagnetic and stripe spin fluctuations remain gapless down to the lowest measured energies. Our results naturally explain the absence of magnetic order in YFe$_2$Ge$_2$ and also imply that the ferromagnetic correlations may be a key ingredient for iron-based materials.
High temperature crystal structure of UPt$_2$Si$_2$ determined using single-crystal neutron diffraction at 400 K is reported. It is found that the crystal structure remains of the primitive tetragonal CaBe$_2$Ge$_2$ type with the space group P4/$n m m. Anisotropic displacement factors of the Pt atoms at the 2a (3/4 1/4 0) and Si atoms at the 2c (1/4 1/4 z) Wyckoff sites are found to be anomalously large.
We have successfully grown the single crystals of CeAg$_2$Ge$_2$, for the first time, by flux method and studied the anisotropic physical properties by measuring the electrical resistivity, magnetic susceptibility and specific heat. We found that CeAg$_2$Ge$_2$ undergoes an antiferromagnetic transition at $T_{rm N}$ = 4.6 K. The electrical resistivity and susceptibility data reveal strong anisotropic magnetic properties. The magnetization measured at $T$ = 2 K exhibited two metamagnetic transitions at $H_{rm m1}$ = 31 kOe and $H_{rm m2}$ = 44.7 kOe, for $H parallel$ [100] with a saturation magnetization of 1.6 $mu_{rm B}$/Ce. The crystalline electric field (CEF) analysis of the inverse susceptibility data reveals that the ground state and the first excited states of CeAg$_2$Ge$_2$ are closely spaced indicating a quasi-quartet ground state. The specific heat data lend further support to the presence of closely spaced energy levels.
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