No Arabic abstract
The structural flexibility at three substitution sites in LaFeAsO enabled investigation of the relation between superconductivity and structural parameters over a wide range of crystal compositions. Substitutions of Nd for La, Sb or P for As, and F or H for O were performed. All these substitutions modify the local structural parameters, while the F/H-substitution also changes band filling. It was found that the superconducting transition temperature $T_{c}$ is strongly affected by the pnictogen height $h_{Pn}$ from the Fe-plane that controls the electron correlation strength and the size of the $d_{xy}$ hole Fermi surface (FS). With increasing $h_{Pn}$, weak coupling superconductivity switches to the strong coupling one where the $d_{xy}$ hole FS is crucially important.
Iron-based superconductors can be categorized as two types of parent compounds by considering the nature of their temperature-induced phase transitions; namely, first order transitions for 122- and 11-type compounds and second-order transitions for 1111-type compounds. This work examines the structural and magnetic transitions (ST and MT) of CaFeAsH by specific heat, X-ray diffraction, neutron diffraction, and electrical resistivity measurements. Heat capacity measurements revealed a second-order phase transition accompanies an apparent single peak at 96 K. However, a clear ST from the tetragonal to orthorhombic phase and a MT from the paramagnetic to antiferromagnetic phase were detected. The structural (Ts) and Neel temperatures (TN) were respectively determined to be 95(2) and 96 K by X-ray and neutron diffraction and resistivity measurements. This small temperature difference, Ts - TN, was attributed to strong magnetic coupling in the inter-layer direction owing to CaFeAsH having the shortest lattice constant c among parent 1111-type iron arsenides. Considering that a first-order transition takes place in 11- and 122-type compounds with a short inter-layer distance, we conclude that the nature of the ST and MT in CaFeAsH is intermediate in character, between the second-order transition for 1111-type compounds and the first-order transition for other 11- and 122-type compounds.
We present the first comprehensive derivation of the intrinsic electronic phase diagram of the iron-oxypnictide superconductors in the normal state based on the analysis of the electrical resistivity $rho$ of both LaFeAsO$_{1-x}$F$_x$ and SmFeAsO$_{1-x}$F$_x$ for a wide range of doping. Our data give clear-cut evidence for unusual normal state properties in these new materials. In particular, the emergence of superconductivity at low doping levels is accompanied by distinct anomalous transport behavior in $rho$ of the normal state which is reminiscent of the spin density wave (SDW) signature in the parent material. At higher doping levels $rho$ of LaFeAsO$_{1-x}$F$_x$ shows a clear transition from this pseudogap-like behavior to Fermi liquid-like behavior, mimicking the phase diagram of the cuprates. Moreover, our data reveal a correlation between the strength of the anomalous features and the stability of the superconducting phase. The pseudogap-like features become stronger in SmFeAsO$_{1-x}$F$_x$ where superconductivity is enhanced and vanish when superconductivity is reduced in the doping region with Fermi liquid-like behavior.
Electron-phonon coupling (EPC) is one of the most common and fundamental interactions in solids. It not only dominates many basic dynamic processes like resistivity, thermal conductivity etc, but also provides the pairing glue in conventional superconductors. But in high-temperature superconductors (HTSC), it is still controversial whether or not EPC is in favor of paring. Despite the controversies, many experiments have provided clear evidence for EPC in HTSC. In this paper, we briefly review EPC in cuprate and iron-based superconducting systems revealed by Raman scattering. We introduce how to extract the coupling information through phonon lineshape. Then we discuss the strength of EPC in different HTSC systems and possible factors affecting the strength. The comparative study between Raman phonon theories and experiments allows us to gain insight into some crucial electronic properties, especially superconductivity. Finally we summarize and compare EPC in the two existing HTSC systems, and discuss what role it may play in HTSC.
We report a sudden reversal in the pressure dependence of Tc in the iron-based superconductor RbFe2As2, at a critical pressure Pc = 11 kbar. Combined with our prior results on KFe2As2 and CsFe2As2, we find a universal V-shaped phase diagram for Tc vs P in these fully hole-doped 122 materials, when measured relative to the critical point (Pc, Tc). From measurements of the upper critical field Hc2(T) under pressure in KFe2As2 and RbFe2As2, we observe the same two-fold jump in (1/Tc)(-dHc2/dT) across Pc, compelling evidence for a sudden change in the structure of the superconducting gap. We argue that this change is due to a transition from one pairing state to another, with different symmetries on either side of Pc. We discuss a possible link between scattering and pairing, and a scenario where a d-wave state favored by high-Q scattering at low pressure changes to a state with s+- symmetry favored by low-Q scattering at high pressure.
Nematicity is ubiquitous in electronic phases of high-$T_c$ superconductors, particularly in the Fe-based systems. We used inelastic x-ray scattering to extract the temperature-dependent nematic correlation length $xi$ from the anomalous softening of acoustic phonon modes in FeSe, underdoped Ba(Fe$_{0.97}$Co$_{0.03}$)$_2$As$_2$ and optimally doped Ba(Fe$_{0.94}$Co$_{0.06}$)$_2$As$_2$. In all cases, we find that $xi$ is well described by a power law $(T-T_0)^{-1/2}$ extending over a wide temperature range. We attributed this mean-field behavior and the extended fluctuation regime to a sizable nemato-elastic coupling, which may be detrimental to superconductivity.