No Arabic abstract
Nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) measurements of an iron (Fe)-based superconductor LaFeAsO_{1-x}F_x (x = 0.08 and 0.14) were performed at ambient pressure and under pressure. The relaxation rate 1/T_1 for the overdoped samples (x = 0.14) shows T-linear behavior just above T_c, and pressure application enhances 1/T_1T similar to the behavior of T_c. This implies that 1/T_1T = constant originates from the Korringa relation, and an increase in the density of states at the Fermi energy D(E_F) leads to the enhancement of T_c. In the underdoped samples (x = 0.08), 1/T_1T measured at ambient pressure also shows T-independent behavior in a wide temperature range above T_c. However, it shows Curie-Weiss-like T dependence at 3.0 GPa accompanied by a small increase in T_c, suggesting that predominant antiferromagnetic fluctuation suppresses development of superconductivity or remarkable enhancement of T_c. The qualitatively different features between underdoped and overdoped samples are systematically explained by a band calculation with hole and electron pockets.
The electron-doped high-transition-temperature (T_c) iron-based pnictide superconductor LaFeAsO_{1-x}H_x has a unique phase diagram: superconducting (SC) double domes are sandwiched by antiferromagnetic phases at ambient pressure and they turn to a single dome with a maximum T_c that exceeds 45K at a pressure of 3.0 GPa. We studied whether spin fluctuations are involved in increasing T_c under a pressure of 3.0 GPa by using ^{75}As nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) technique. The ^{75}As-NMR results for the powder samples show that T_c increases up to 48 K without the influence of spin fluctuations. The fact indicates that spin fluctuations are not involved in raising T_c, which implies that other factors, such as orbital degrees of freedom, may be important for achieving a high T_c of almost 50 K.
The specific heat $C(T)$ of new iron-based high-$T_c$ superconductor SmO$_{1-x}$F$_x$FeAs ($0 leq x leq 0.2$) was systematically studied. For undoped $x$ = 0 sample, a specific heat jump was observed at 130 K. This is attributed to the structural or spin-density-wave (SDW) transition, which also manifests on resistivity as a rapid drop. However, this jump disappears with slight F doping in $x$ = 0.05 sample, although the resistivity drop still exists. The specific heat $C/T$ shows clear anomaly near $T_c$ for $x$ = 0.15 and 0.20 superconducting samples. Such anomaly has been absent in LaO$_{1-x}$F$_x$FeAs. For the parent compound SmOFeAs, $C(T)$ shows a sharp peak at 4.6 K, and with electron doping in $x$ = 0.15 sample, this peak shifts to 3.7 K. It is interpreted that such a sharp peak results from the antiferromagnetic ordering of Sm$^{3+}$ ions in this system, which mimics the electron-doped high-$T_c$ cuprate Sm$_{2-x}$Ce$_x$CuO$_{4-delta}$.
We have measured element-specific Fe-phonon densities of states (Fe-PDOS) of LaFeAsO_{1-x}F_{x} (x = 0, 0.11) and La_{1-x}Ca_{x}FePO (x = 0.13) by using nuclear resonant inelastic scattering of synchrotron radiation. The Fe-PDOS of superconductor LaFeAsO_{0.89}F_{0.11} (Tc = 26 K) and that of non-superconductor LaFeAsO have similar structures to both below Tc (15 K) and above Tc (298 K) and, therefore, fluorine doping does not have notable effect on the Fe-PDOS. As for the superconductor La_{0.87}Ca_{0.13}FePO (Tc = 5.4K), the entire structure of Fe-PDOS resembles with that of LaFeAsO_{1-x}F_{x}, but the energy of the highest peak is higher than that of LaFeAsO_{1-x}F_{x}. These peaks are attributed to vibrational modes between Fe and pnicogen (As and P) and the temperature-dependent energy shifts are observed for LaFeAsO_{1-x}F_{x}. Observed Fe-PDOS of LaFeAsO_{1-x}F_{x} agrees well with an previously calculated Fe-PDOS spectrum with a first-principles calculation and shows the structural resemblance with an calculated Eliashberg function #alpha^2F(x) giving small electron-phonon coupling. Therefore, our results indicate that phonons are not the main contributors to the Tc superconductivity of LaFeAsO_{1-x}F_{x}. From the experimental viewpoint, comparison of our observed Fe-PDOS and an experimentally obtained bosonic glue spectrum will be an important clue as to whether phonons are the main contributors to superconductivity in iron-pnictide superconductors.
Hydrostatic pressure Raman measurements have been carried out on the SmFeAsO series of oxypnictides with varying amount of doping (F substitution for O and Co for Fe) and transition temperature (T_{c}), in order to investigate lattice modifications and their connection to doping and superconductivity. Synchrotron XRD data on some of these compounds indicated that at low doping the lattice constants vary smoothly with pressure, but with increasing F concentration there is a deviation from the normal equation of state and these effects are related with modifications in the superconducting FeAs4 tetrahedra. The hydrostatic pressure Raman measurements show that the A1g mode of the rare earth atom for the superconducting compounds deviates from the linear pressure dependence at the same pressures where the XRD results indicate pressure-induced lattice anomalies. A similar anomaly is found for the As phonon of same symmetry. As in cuprates, the effect is diminished in the undoped compounds and it is not related with the F substitution being present in the Sm(Fe_{1-x}Co_{x})AsO as well. The calculated Gruneisen parameter for the Sm phonon ({gamma approx}1.5) is very similar to the corresponding values of cuprates and it does not vary with doping. For the Fe mode it has higher value ({gamma approx}1.8) than for As ({gamma approx}1) indicating a more anharmonic phonon.
Diamagnetic susceptibility measurements under high hydrostatic pressure (up to 1.03 GPa) were carried out on the newly discovered Fe-based superconductor LaO_{1-x}F_{x}FeAs(x=0.11). The transition temperature T_c, defined as the point at the maximum slope of superconducting transition, was enhanced almost linearly by hydrostatic pressure, yielding a dT_c/dP of about 1.2 K/GPa. Differential diamagnetic susceptibility curves indicate that the underlying superconducting state is complicated. It is suggested that pressure plays an important role on pushing low T_c superconducting phase toward the main (optimal) superconducting phase.