We measured the in-plane resistivity anisotropy in the underdoped Ca$_{1-x}$Na$_x$Fe$_2$As$_2$ single crystals. The anisotropy (indicated by $rho_{rm b} - rho_{rm a}$) appears below a temperature well above magnetic transition temperature $T_{rm N}$,
being positive ($rho_{rm b} - rho_{rm a} > 0$) as $xleq$ 0.14. With increasing the doping level to $x$ = 0.19, an intersection between $rho_{rm b}$ and $rho_{rm a}$ is observed upon cooling, with $rho_{rm b} - rho_{rm a} < 0$ at low-temperature deep inside a magnetically ordered state, while $rho_{rm b} - rho_{rm a}> 0$ at high temperature. Subsequently, further increase of hole concentration leads to a negative anisotropy $rho_{rm b} - rho_{rm a} < 0$ in the whole temperature range. These results manifest that the anisotropic behavior of resistivity in the magnetically ordered state depends strongly on the competition of the contributions from different mechanisms, and the competition between the two contributions results in a complicated evolution of the anisotropy of in-plane resistivity with doping level.
We measured resistivity and specific heat of high-quality CsFe$_2$As$_2$ single crystals, which were grown by using a self-flux method. The CsFe$_2$As$_2$ crystal shows sharp superconducting transition at 1.8 K with the transition width of 0.1 K. The
sharp superconducting transition and pronounced jump in specific heat indicate high quality of the crystals. Analysis on the superconducting-state specific heat supports unconventional pairing symmetry in CsFe$_2$As$_2$.
We report Hall measurement of the normal state in K- and Co-doped BaFe$_2$As$_2$, as well NaFe$_{1-x}$Co$_x$As. We found that a power-law temperature dependence of Hall angle, cot$theta_{rm H}$$propto$ $T^beta$, prevails in normal state with temperat
ure range well above the structural, spin-density-wave and superconducting transitions for the all samples with various doping levels. The power $beta$ is nearly 4 for the parent compounds and the heavily underdoped samples, while around 3 for the superconducting samples. The $beta$ suddenly changes from 4 to 3 at a doping level that is close to the emergence of superconductivity. It suggests that the $beta$ of $sim 3$ is clearly tied to the superconductivity. Our data suggest that, similar to cuprates, there exists a connection between the physics in the normal state and superconductivity of iron-pnictides. These findings shed light on the mechanism of high-temperature superconductivity.
We report electronic transport measurements on single crystals of NaFe$_{1-x}$Co$_x$As system. We found that the cotangent of Hall angle, cot$theta_{rm H}$, follows $T^4$ for the parent compound with filamentary superconductivity and $T^2$ for the he
avily-overdoped non-superconducting sample. While it exhibits approximately $T^3$-dependence in all the superconducting samples, suggesting this behaivor is associated with bulk superconductivity in ferropnictides. A deviation develops below a characteristic temperature $T^*$ well above the structural and superconducting transitions, accompanied by a departure from power-law temperature dependence in resistivity. The doping dependence of $T^*$ resembles the crossover line of pseudogap phase in cuprates.
High-quality K(Fe$_{1-x}$Co$_x$)$_2$As$_2$ single crystals have been grown by using KAs flux method. Instead of increasing the superconducting transition temperature $T_{rm c}$ through electron doping, we find that Co impurities rapidly suppress $T_{
rm c}$ down to zero at only $x approx$ 0.04. Such an effective suppression of $T_{rm c}$ by impurities is quite different from that observed in Ba$_{0.5}$K$_{0.5}$Fe$_2$As$_2$ with multiple nodeless superconducting gaps. Thermal conductivity measurements in zero field show that the residual linear term $kappa_0/T$ only change slightly with $3.4%$ Co doping, despite the sharp increase of scattering rate. The implications of these anomalous impurity effects are discussed.
We measured the resistivity and magnetic susceptibility to map out the phase diagram of single crystalline NaFe$_{1-x}$Co$_x$As. Replacement of Fe by Co suppresses both the structural and magnetic transition, while enhances the superconducting transi
tion temperature ($T_{rm c}$) and superconducting component fraction. Magnetic susceptibility exhibits temperature-linear dependence in the high temperatures up to 500 K for all the superconducting samples, but such behavior suddenly breaks down for the non-superconducting overdoped crystal, suggesting that the superconductivity is closely related to the T-linear dependence of susceptibility. Analysis on the superconducting-state specific heat for the optimally doped crystal provides strong evidence for a two-band s-wave order parameter with gap amplitudes of $Delta_1(0)/k_{rm B}T_{rm c}$= 1.78 and $Delta_2(0)/k_{rm B}T_{rm c}$=3.11, being consistent with the nodeless gap symmetry revealed by angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy experiment.
The thermal conductivity k of the iron-arsenide superconductor K-Ba122 was measured down to 50 mK in a magnetic field up to 15 T, for a heat current parallel and perpendicular to the tetragonal c axis. In the range from optimal doping (x ~ 0.4) down
to x = 0.16, there is no residual linear term in k(T) at T = 0, showing that there are no nodes in the superconducting gap anywhere on the Fermi surface. Upon crossing below x = 0.16, a large residual linear term suddenly appears, signaling the onset of nodes in the superconducting gap, most likely vertical line nodes running along the c axis. We discuss two scenarios: 1) accidental nodes in an s-wave gap, resulting from a strong modulation of the gap around the Fermi surface, in which minima deepen rapidly with underdoping; 2) a phase transition from a nodeless s-wave state to a d-wave state, in which nodes are imposed by symmetry.
The thermal conductivity k of the iron-arsenide superconductor Ba(Fe_{1-x}Co_x)_2As_2 was measured down to 50 mK for a heat current parallel (k_c) and perpendicular (k_a) to the tetragonal c axis, for seven Co concentrations from underdoped to overdo
ped regions of the phase diagram (0.038 < x < 0.127). A residual linear term k_c0/T is observed in the T = 0 limit when the current is along the c axis, revealing the presence of nodes in the gap. Because the nodes appear as x moves away from the concentration of maximal T_c, they must be accidental, not imposed by symmetry, and are therefore compatible with an s_{+/-} state, for example. The fact that the in-plane residual linear term k_a0/T is negligible at all x implies that the nodes are located in regions of the Fermi surface that contribute strongly to c-axis conduction and very little to in-plane conduction. Application of a moderate magnetic field (e.g. H_c2/4) excites quasiparticles that conduct heat along the a axis just as well as the nodal quasiparticles conduct along the c axis. This shows that the gap must be very small (but non-zero) in regions of the Fermi surface which contribute significantly to in-plane conduction. These findings can be understood in terms of a strong k dependence of the gap Delta(k) which produces nodes on a Fermi surface sheet with pronounced c-axis dispersion and deep minima on the remaining, quasi-two-dimensional sheets.
Single crystals of the Bi-Ca-Co-O system have been grown using the flux method with cooling from 900$celsius$ and 950$celsius$, respectively. The single crystals are characterized by transmission electron microscopy and X-ray diffraction. The misfit
cobaltite [Ca$_2$Bi$_{1.4}$Co$_{0.6}$O$_4$]$^{RS}$[CoO$_2$]$_{1.69}$ single crystals with quadruple ($n$=4) rocksalt (RS) layer are achieved with cooling from 900$celsius$. Such crystal exhibits room-temperature thermoelectric power (TEP) of 180$mu$V/K, much larger than that in Sr-based misfit cobaltites with quadruple RS layer. However, intergrowth of single crystals of quadruple ($n$=4) and triple ($n$=3) RS-type layer-based misfit cobaltites is observed with cooling from 950$celsius$. Both of TEP and resistivity were obviously enhanced by the intergrowth compared to [Ca$_2$Bi$_{1.4}$Co$_{0.6}$O$_4$]$^{RS}$[CoO$_2$]$_{1.69}$ single crystal, while the power factor at room temperature remains unchanged.
