Experimental contributors to the field of Superconducting Materials share their informal views on the subject.
Hole-doped cuprate high temperature superconductors have ushered in the modern era of high temperature superconductivity (HTS) and have continued to be at center stage in the field. Extensive studies have been made, many compounds discovered, volumin
ous data compiled, numerous models proposed, many review articles written, and various prototype devices made and tested with better performance than their nonsuperconducting counterparts. The field is indeed vast. We have therefore decided to focus on the major cuprate materials systems that have laid the foundation of HTS science and technology and present several simple scaling laws that show the systematic and universal simplicity amid the complexity of these material systems, while referring readers interested in the HTS physics and devices to the review articles. Developments in the field are mostly presented in chronological order, sometimes with anecdotes, in an attempt to share some of the moments of excitement and despair in the history of HTS with readers, especially the younger ones.
Due to the similarity to BaFe2As2 and SrFe2As2 the RFe2Si2 (R=La, Y and Lu) system has been proposed as a potential candidate for a new superconducting family containing Fe-Si layers as a structural unit. Various R(Fe1-xMx)2Si2 M=Ni, Mn and Cu) mater
ials were synthesized and measured for their magnetic properties. None of these materials is superconducting down to 5 K. Fe in RFe2Si2 is paramagnetic. A pronounced peak at 232 K was observed in the magnetization curve of YFe2Si2. 57Fe Mossbauer studies confirm the absence of any magnetic ordering at low temperatures. Similar peaks at various temperatures also appear in R(Fe1-xMx)2Si2 samples. Four independent factors affect the peak position and shift it to lower temperatures: (i) the lattice parameters, (ii) the concentration of x, (iii) the applied magnetic field, and (iv) the magnetic nature of M. The peak position is dramatically affected by the magnetic Mn dopants. It is propose that the magnetic peaks observed in RFe2Si2 and in R(Fe1-xMx)2Si2 represent a new nearly ferromagnetic Fermi liquid (NFFL) system and their nature is yet to be determined.
A review of high-pressure studies on Fe-pnictide superconductors is given. The pressure effects on the magnetic and superconducting transitions are discussed for different classes of doped and undoped FeAs-compounds, ROFeAs (R = rare earth), AeFe2As2
(Ae = Ca, Sr, Ba), and AFeAs (A = Li, Na). Pressure tends to decrease the magnetic transition temperature in the undoped or only slightly doped compounds. The superconducting Tc increases with pressure for underdoped FeAs-pnictides, remains approximately constant for optimal doping, and decreases linearly in the overdoped range. The undoped LaOFeAs and AeFe2As2 become superconducting under pressure although nonhydrostatic pressure conditions seem to play a role in CaFe2As2. The superconductivity in the (undoped) AFeAs is explained as a chemical pressure effect due to the volume contraction caused by the small ionic size of the A-elements. The binary FeSe shows the largest pressure coefficient of Tc in the Se-deficient superconducting phase.
The newest homologous series of superconducting As-pnictides, LiFeAs (Li111) and NaFeAs (Na111) have been synthesized and investigated. Both crystallize with the layered tetragonal anti-PbFCl-type structure in P4/nmm space group. Polycrystalline samp
les and single-crystals of Li111 and Na111 display superconducting transitions at ~ 18 K and 12-25 K, respectively. No magnetic order has been found in either compound, although a weak magnetic background is clearly in evidence. The origin of the carriers and the stoichiometric compositions of Li111 and Na111 were explored.
