The magnetic properties of LiFeAs, as single crystalline and polycrystalline samples, were investigated. The lower critical field deduced from the vortex penetration of two single crystals appears to be almost isotropic with a temperature dependence
closer to that of two-gap superconductors. The parameters extracted from the reversible magnetizations of sintered polycrystalline samples are in good agreement with those from the single crystal data.
The zero-field specific heat of LiFeAs was measured on several single crystals selected from a bulk sample. A sharp Delta Cp/Tc anomaly of approximately 20 mJ/(mole x K^2) was observed. The value appears to be between those of SmFeAs(O0.9F0.1) and (B
a0.6K0.4)Fe2As2, but bears no clear correlation with their Sommerfeld coefficients. The electronic specific heat below Tc further reveals a two-gap structure with the narrower one only on the order of 0.7 meV. While the results are in rough agreement with the Hc1(T) previously reported on both LiFeAs and (Ba0.6K0.4)Fe2As2, they are different from the published specific-heat data of a (Ba0.6K0.4)Fe2As2 single crystal.
A new hight Tc Fe-based compound system, AFe2As2 with A = K, Cs, K/Sr and Cs/Sr has been found. Through electron-doping, Tc of the A = K and Cs compounds rises to ~37 K, and finally enter a spin-density-wave state (SDW) through further electron dopin
g with Sr. The observation demonstrates the crucial role of the (FeAs)-layers in the superconductivity in the Fe-based layered system and the special feature of elemental A-layers in this complex chemical system may provide new avenues to superconductivity at a higher Tc.
High temperature superconductors with a Tc above 40 K have been found to be strongly correlated electron systems and to have a layered structure. Guided by these rules, Kamihara et al. discovered a Tc up to 26 K in the layered La(O1-xFx)FeAs. By repl
acing La with tri-valence rare-earth elements RE of smaller ionic radii, Tc has subsequently been raised to 41-52 K. Many theoretical models have been proposed emphasizing the important magnetic origin of superconductivity in this compound system and a possible further Tc-enhancement in RE(O1-xFx)FeAs by compression. This later prediction appears to be supported by the pressure-induced Tc-increase in La(O0.89F0.11)FeAs observed. Here we show that, in contrast to previous expectations, pressure can either suppress or enhance Tc, depending on the doping level, suggesting that a Tc exceeding 50s K may be found only in the yet-to-be discovered compound systems related to but different from R(O1-xFx)FeAs and that the Tc of La(O1-xFx)FeAs and Sm(O1-xFx)FeAs may be further raised to 50s K.
