We report an optical investigation on the in-plane charge dynamics for Na$_{1-delta}$FeAs single crystal. A clear optical evidence for the spin-density wave (SDW) gap is observed. As the structural/magnetic transitions are separated in the Na$_{1-delta}$FeAs case, we find the SDW gap opens in accordance with the magnetic transition. Comparing with the optical response of other FeAs-based parent compounds, both the gap value 2$Delta$ and the energy scale for the gap-induced spectral weight redistribution are smaller in Na$_{1-delta}$FeAs. Our findings support the itinerant origin of the antiferromagnetic transition in the FeAs-based system.
Specific heat, resistivity, susceptibility and Hall coefficient measurements were performed on high-quality single crystalline Na$_{1-delta}$FeAs. This compound is found to undergo three successive phase transitions at around 52, 41, and 23 K, which correspond to structural, magnetic and superconducting transitions, respectively. The Hall effect result indicates the development of energy gap at low temperature due to the occurrence of spin-density-wave instability. Our results provide direct experimental evidence of the magnetic ordering in the nearly stoichiometric NaFeAs.
We report a $^{23}$Na and $^{75}$As nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) investigation of Na$_{x}$FeAs series ($x=1$, 0.9, 0.8) exhibiting a spin-density wave (SDW) order below $T_{rm SDW}=45$, 50 and 43 K for $x=1$, 0.9, 0.8, respectively, and a bulk superconductivity below $T_capprox 12$ K for x=0.9. Below $T_{rm SDW}$, a spin-lattice relaxation reveals the presence of gapless particle-hole excitations in the whole $x$ range, meaning that a portion of the Fermi surface remains gapless. The superconducting fraction as deduced from the bulk susceptibility scales with this portion, while the SDW order parameter as deduced from the NMR linewidth scales inversely with it. The NMR lineshape can only be reproduced assuming an incommensurate (IC) SDW. These findings qualitatively correspond to the mean-field models of competing interband magnetism and intraband superconductivity, which lead to an IC SDW order coexisting with superconductivity in part of the phase diagram.
The interplay between different ordered phases, such as superconducting, charge or spin ordered phases, is of central interest in condensed matter physics. The very recent discovery of superconductivity with a remarkable T$_c$= 26 K in Fe-based oxypnictide La(O$_{1-x}$F$_x$)FeAs is a surprise to the scientific communitycite{Kamihara08}. The pure LaOFeAs itself is not superconducting but shows an anomaly near 150 K in both resistivity and dc magnetic susceptibility. Here we provide combined experimental and theoretical evidences showing that the anomaly is caused by the spin-density-wave (SDW) instability, and electron-doping by F suppresses the SDW instability and recovers the superconductivity. Therefore, the La(O$_{1-x}$F$_x$)FeAs offers an exciting new system showing competing orders in layered compounds.
A series of layered CeO$_{1-x}$F$_x$FeAs compounds with x=0 to 0.20 are synthesized by solid state reaction method. Similar to the LaOFeAs, the pure CeOFeAs shows a strong resistivity anomaly near 145 K, which was ascribed to the spin-density-wave instability. F-doping suppresses this instability and leads to the superconducting ground state. Most surprisingly, the superconducting transition temperature could reach as high as 41 K. The very high superconducting transition temperature strongly challenges the classic BCS theory based on the electron-phonon interaction. The very closeness of the superconducting phase to the spin-density-wave instability suggests that the magnetic fluctuations play a key role in the superconducting paring mechanism. The study also reveals that the Ce 4f electrons form local moments and ordered antiferromagnetically below 4 K, which could coexist with superconductivity.
The nature of spin-density wave and its relation with superconductivity are crucial issues in the newly discovered Fe-based high temperature superconductors. Particularly it is unclear whether the superconducting phase and spin density wave (SDW) are truly exclusive from each other as suggested by certain experiments. With angle resolved photoemission spectroscopy, we here report exchange splittings of the band structures in Sr1-xKxFe2As2 (x=0,0.1,0.2), and the non-rigid-band behaviors of the splitting. Our data on single crystalline superconducting samples unambiguously prove that SDW and superconductivity could coexist in iron-pnictides.