No Arabic abstract
The magnetic and superconducting properties of a series of underdoped $Ba_{1-x}Na_{x}Fe_{2}As_{2}$ (BNFA) single crystals with $0.19 leq xleq 0.34$ has been investigated with the complementary muon-spin-rotation ($mu$SR) and infrared spectroscopy techniques. The focus has been on the different antiferromagnetic states in the underdoped regime and their competition with superconductivity, especially for the ones with a tetragonal crystal structure and a so-called double-$Q$ magnetic order. Besides the collinear state with a spatially inhomogeneous spin-charge-density wave (i-SCDW) order at $x=0.24$ and $0.26$, that was previously identified in BNFA, we obtained evidence for an orthomagnetic state with a hedgehog-type spin vortex crystal (SVC) structure at $x=0.32$ and $0.34$. Whereas in the former i-SCDW state the infrared spectra show no sign of a superconducting response down to the lowest measured temperature of about 10K, in the SVC state there is a strong superconducting response similar to the one at optimum doping. The magnetic order is strongly suppressed here in the superconducting state and at $x=0.34$ there is even a partial re-entrance into a paramagnetic state at $T<<T_c$.
Using muon spin rotation and infrared spectroscopy we study the relation between magnetism and superconductivity in Ba$ _{1-x} $K$ _{x} $Fe$ _{2} $As$ _{2} $ single crystals from the underdoped to the slightly overdoped regime. We find that the Fe magnetic moment is only moderately suppressed in most of the underdoped region where it decreases more slowly than the N{e}el-temperature, $ T^{mathrm{N}} $. This applies for both the total Fe moment obtained from muon spin rotation and for the itinerant component that is deduced from the spectral weight of the spin-density-wave pair breaking peak in the infrared response. In the moderately underdoped region, superconducting and static magnetic orders co-exist on the nano-scale and compete for the same electronic states. The static magnetic moment disappears rather sharply near optimal doping, however, in the slightly overdoped region there is still an enhancement or slowing down of spin fluctuations in the superconducting state. Similar to the gap magnitude reported from specific heat measurements, the superconducting condensate density is nearly constant in the optimally- and slightly overdoped region, but exhibits a rather pronounced decrease on the underdoped side. Several of these observations are similar to the phenomenology in the electron doped counterpart Ba(Fe$ _{1-y} $Co$ _{y} $)$ _{2} $As$ _{2} $.
We have performed ^{75}As nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) and nuclear quadrupole resonance (NQR) on single crystalline Ba_{1-x}K_{x}Fe_{2}As_{2} for x = 0.27-1. ^{75}As nuclear quadruple resonance frequency ({ u}_{Q}) increases linearly with increasing x. The Knight shift K in normal state shows Pauli paramagnetic behavior with slight temperature T dependence. The value of K increases gradually with increasing x. By contrast, nuclear spin- lattice relaxation rate 1/T_{1} in normal state has a large T-dependence, which indicates existence of large antiferomagnetic (AF) spin fluctuations for all x. The T-dependence of 1/T_{1} shows a gap-like behavior below approximately 100 K for 0.6 < x < 0.9. These behaviors are well explained by the change of band structure with expansion of hole Fermi surfaces and shrink and disappearance of electron Fermi surfaces at Brillouin zone (BZ) with increasing x. The anisotropy of 1/T_{1}, represented by a ratio of 1/T_{1ab} to 1/T_{1c}, is always larger than 1 for all x, which indicates that the stripe-type AF fluctuations is dominant in this system. The K in superconducting (SC) state decreases, which corresponds to appearance of spin-singlet superconductivity. The T dependence of 1/T_{1} in SC state indicates multiple-SC-gap feature. A simple two gap model analysis shows that the larger superconducting gap gradually decreases with increasing x from 0.27 to 1 and smaller gap decreases rapidly and nearly vanishes for x > 0.6 where the electron pockets in BZ disappear.
We use scanning SQUID microscopy to investigate the behavior of vortices in the presence of twin boundaries in the pnictide superconductor Ba(Fe1-xCox)2As2. We show that the vortices avoid pinning on twin boundaries. Individual vortices move in a preferential way when manipulated with the SQUID: they tend to not cross a twin boundary, but rather to move parallel to it. This behavior can be explained by the observation of enhanced superfluid density on twin boundaries in Ba(Fe1-xCox)2As2. The observed repulsion from twin boundaries may be a mechanism for enhanced critical currents observed in twinned samples in pnictides and other superconductors.
Doping dependence of the superconducting state structure and spin-fluctuation pairing mechanism in the $Ba(Fe_{1-x}Co_{x})_{2}As_{2}$ family is studied. BCS-like analysis of experimental data shows that in the overdoped regime, away from the AFM transition, the spin-fluctuation interaction between the electron and hole gaps is weak, and $Ba(Fe_{1-x}Co_{x})_{2}As_{2}$ is characterized by three essentially different gaps. In the three-gap state an anisotropic (nodeless) electron gap $Delta_e (x, phi)$ has an intermediate value between the dominant inner $Delta_{2h}(x)$ and outer $Delta_{1h}(x)$ hole gaps. Close to the AFM transition the electron gap $Delta_e (x, phi)$ increases sharply and becomes closer in magnitude to the dominant inner hole gap $Delta_{2h}(x)$. The same two-gap state with close electron and inner hole gaps $Delta_{2h}(x) approx Delta_e (x, phi)$ is also preserved in the phase of coexisting antiferromagnetism and superconductivity. The doping dependence of the electron gap $Delta_e (x, phi)$ is associated with the strong doping dependence of the spin-fluctuation interaction in the AFM transition region. In contrast to the electron gap $Delta_e (x, phi)$, the doping dependence of the hole gaps $Delta_{1,2h}(x)$ and the critical temperature $T_{c}(x)$, both before and after the AFM transition, are associated with a change of the density of states $gamma_{nh}(x)$ and the intraband electron-phonon interaction in the hole bands. The non-phonon spin-fluctuation interaction in the hole bands in the entire Co concentration range is small compared with the intraband electron-phonon interaction and is not dominant in the $Ba(Fe_{1-x}Co_{x})_{2}As_{2}$ family.
We elucidate the termination surface of cleaved single crystals of the BaFe_(2-x)Co_(x)As_(2) and Fe_(y)Se_(1-x)Te_(x) families of the high temperature iron based superconductors. By combining scanning tunneling microscopic data with low energy electron diffraction we prove that the termination layer of the Ba122 systems is a remnant of the Ba layer, which exhibits a complex diversity of ordered and disordered structures. The observed surface topographies and their accompanying superstructure reflections in electron diffraction depend on the cleavage temperature. In stark contrast, Fe_(y)Se_(1-x)Te_(x) possesses only a single termination structure - that of the tetragonally ordered Se_(1-x)Te_(x) layer.