Normal-state charge dynamics in doped BaFe₂As₂: roles of doping and necessary ingredients for superconductivity

The breakdown of both strange metal and superconducting states at a pressure-induced quantum critical point in iron-pnictide superconductors

Here we report the first observation of the concurrent breakdown of the strange metal (SM) normal state and superconductivity at a pressure-induced quantum critical point in Ca₁₀(Pt₄As₈)((Fe_0.97Pt_0.03)₂As₂)₅ superconductor. We find that, upon suppressing the superconducting state, the power exponent (α) changes from 1 to 2, and the slope of the temperature-linear resistivity per FeAs layer (A^□) gradually diminishes. At a critical pressure, A^□ and superconducting transition temperature (T_c) go to zero concurrently, where a quantum phase transition from a superconducting state with a SM normal state to a non-superconducting Fermi liquid state occurs. Scaling analysis reveals that the change of A^□ with T_c obeys the relation of T_c ~ (A^□)^0.5, similar to what is seen in other chemically doped unconventional superconductors. These results suggest that there is a simple but powerful organizational principle of connecting the SM normal state with the high-T_c superconductivity.

Phase Formation of Iron-Based Superconductors during Mechanical Alloying

We successfully synthesized bulk Ba_0.6Na_0.4Fe₂As₂ and Sr_0.5Na_0.5Fe₂As₂ compounds by high-energy mechanical alloying (MA) technique. The MA process results in homogeneous amorphous phases of BaFe₂As₂ and SrFe₂As₂. It was found that the optimum time for high-energy milling in all cases is about 1.5-2 h, and the maximum amount of amorphous phase could be obtained when energy of 50-100 MJ/kg was absorbed by the powder. After a short-term heat treatment, we obtained nearly optimum sodium-doped Ba_1-xNa_xFe₂As₂ and Sr_1-xNa_xFe₂As₂ superconducting bulk samples. Therefore, MA is a potential scalable method to produce bulk superconducting material for industrial needs.

Doping-dependent superconducting physical quantities of K-doped BaFe[Formula: see text]As[Formula: see text] obtained through infrared spectroscopy

We investigated four single crystals of K-doped BaFe[Formula: see text]As[Formula: see text] (Ba-122), Ba[Formula: see text]K[Formula: see text]Fe[Formula: see text]As[Formula: see text] with [Formula: see text] 0.29, 0.36, 0.40, and 0.51, using infrared spectroscopy. We explored a wide variety of doping levels, from under- to overdoped. We obtained the superfluid plasma frequencies ([Formula: see text]) and corresponding London penetration depths ([Formula: see text]) from the measured optical conductivity spectra. We also extracted the electron-boson spectral density (EBSD) functions using a two-parallel charge transport channel approach in the superconducting (SC) state. From the extracted EBSD functions, the maximum SC transition temperatures ([Formula: see text]) were determined using a generalized McMillan formula and the SC coherence lengths ([Formula: see text]) were calculated using the timescales encoded in the EBSD functions and reported Fermi velocities. We identified some similarities and differences in the doping-dependent SC quantities between the K-doped Ba-122 and the hole-doped cuprates. We expect that the various SC quantities obtained across the wide doping range will provide helpful information for establishing the microscopic pairing mechanism in Fe-pnictide superconductors.

Enhanced critical current density in K-doped Ba122 polycrystalline bulk superconductors via fast densification

Iron-based superconductors are expected to be used in strong magnet applications owing to their excellent superconducting properties. The process of sintering a mechanically alloyed precursor powder is effective in achieving a high upper critical field and critical current density in BaFe₂As₂ (Ba122) polycrystalline bulk materials. However, when this process is applied to K-doped Ba122, which shows the highest critical temperature in the Ba122 family, suppressing the vaporization of potassium is challenging. In this study, spark plasma sintering (SPS) method was applied to K-doped Ba122 to achieve fast densification. In contrast to the conventional synthesis method, which requires several tens of hours, optimally K-doped bulks with near theoretical density were obtained after only 5 min of SPS, and the magnetic critical current density reached 10⁵ A/cm² at 5 K. The demonstrated superconducting properties suggest that this fast densification technique is a useful tool for applying K-doped Ba122 to bulk trapped field magnets.

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K-doped Ba122 polycrystalline bulks were synthesized via spark plasma sintering

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Nearly single-phase and highly dense bulks were obtained in short period (5 min)

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The magnetic critical current density exceeded 10⁵ A/cm² at 5 K

Thermal annealing and pressure effects on BaFe2-x Co x As2 single crystals

We investigate the pressure and thermal annealing effects on BaFe_2-x Co _x As₂ (Co-Ba122) single crystals with x  =  0.1 and 0.17 via electrical transport measurements. The thermal annealing treatment not only enhances the superconducting transition temperature (T _c) from 9.6 to 12.7 K for x  =  0.1 and from 18.1 to 21.0 K for x  =  0.17, but also increases the antiferromagnetic transition temperature (T _N). Simultaneous enhancement of T _c and T _N by the thermal annealing treatment indicates that thermal annealing could substantially improve the quality of the Co-doped Ba122 samples. Interestingly, T _c of the Co-Ba122 compounds shows a scaling behavior with a linear dependence on the resistivity value at 290 K, irrespective of tuning parameters such as chemical doping, pressure, and thermal annealing. These results not only provide an effective way to access the intrinsic properties of the BaFe₂As₂ system, but may also shed a light on designing new materials with higher superconducting transition temperature.

Doping effect on the physical properties of Ca10Pt3As8(Fe2As2)5 single crystals

Ca₁₀Pt₃As₈(Fe₂As₂)₅ is a unique parent compound for superconductivity, which consists of both semiconducting Pt₃As₈ and metallic FeAs layers. We report the observation of superconductivity induced via chemical doping in either Ca site using rare-earth (RE) elements (RE  =  La, Gd) or Fe site using Pt. The interlayer distance and the normal-state physical properties of the doped system change correspondingly. The coupled changes include (1) superconducting transition temperature T _c increases with increasing both doping concentration and interlayer distance, (2) our T _c value is higher than previously reported maximum value for Pt doping in the Fe site, (3) both the normal-state in-plane resistivity and out-of-plane resistivity change from non-metallic to metallic behavior with increasing doping concentration and T _c, and (4) the transverse in-plane magnetoresistance (MR_ab) changes from linear-field dependence to quadratic behavior upon increasing T _c. For La-doped compound with the highest T _c (~35 K), upper critical fields ([Formula: see text], [Formula: see text]), coherence lengths (ξ _ab, ξ _c), and in-plane penetration depth (λ _ab) are estimated. We discuss the relationship between chemical doping, interlayer distance, and physical properties in this system.

A study of temperature dependent local atomic displacements in a Ba(Fe(1-x)Co(x))2As2 superconductor

We have studied the local structure of a Ba(Fe(1-x)Co(x))2As2 superconductor using temperature dependent extended X-ray absorption fine structure (EXAFS) measurements. Polarized EXAFS at the Fe K-edge on an optimally doped (x = 0.06) single crystal has permitted us to determine atomic displacements across the superconducting transition temperature (T(c)). The Fe-As bondlength hardly shows any change with temperature; however, the Fe-Fe sublattice reveals a sharp anomaly across T(c), indicated by a significant drop in mean square relative displacements, similar to the one known for cuprates and A15-type superconductors. We have also found a large atomic disorder around the substituted Co, revealed by polarized Co K-edge EXAFS measurements. The Co-Fe/Co bonds are more flexible than the Fe-Fe bonds with the As-height in Co-containing tetrahedra being larger than the one in FeAs4. The results suggest that the local Fe-Fe bondlength fluctuations and the atomic disorder in this sub-lattice should have some important role in the superconductivity of Ba(Fe(1-x)Co(x))2As2 pnictides.

Electron-boson spectral density function of correlated multiband systems obtained from optical data: Ba0.6K0.4Fe2As2 and LiFeAs

We introduce an approximate method which can be used to simulate the optical conductivity data of correlated multiband systems for normal and superconducting cases by taking advantage of a reversed process in comparison to a usual optical data analysis, which has been used to extract the electron-boson spectral density function from measured optical spectra of single-band systems, like cuprates. We applied this method to optical conductivity data of two multiband pnictide systems (Ba0.6K0.4Fe2As2 and LiFeAs) and obtained the electron-boson spectral density functions. The obtained electron-boson spectral density consists of a sharp mode and a broad background. The obtained spectral density functions of the multiband systems show similar properties as those of cuprates in several aspects. We expect that our method helps to reveal the nature of strong correlations in the multiband pnictide superconductors.

Correlation-induced self-doping in the iron-pnictide superconductor Ba2Ti2Fe2As4O

The electronic structure of the iron-based superconductor Ba2Ti2Fe2As4O (Tc(onset)=23.5  K) has been investigated by using angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy and combined local density approximation and dynamical mean field theory calculations. The electronic states near the Fermi level are dominated by both the Fe 3d and Ti 3d orbitals, indicating that the spacer layers separating different FeAs layers are also metallic. By counting the enclosed volumes of the Fermi surface sheets, we observe a large self-doping effect; i.e., 0.25 electrons per unit cell are transferred from the FeAs layer to the Ti2As2O layer, leaving the FeAs layer in a hole-doped state. This exotic behavior is successfully reproduced by our dynamical mean field calculations, in which the self-doping effect is attributed to the electronic correlations in the 3d shells. Our work provides an alternative route of effective doping without element substitution for iron-based superconductors.