Quenched Fe Moment in the Collapsed Tetragonal Phase of Ca1−x_{1-x}Prx_{x}Fe2_2As2_2

We report $^{75}$As NMR studies on single crystals of rare-earth doped iron pnictides superconductor Ca$_{1-x}$Pr$_{x}$Fe$_{2}$As$_{2}$ ($x$=0.075 and 0.15). The $^{75}$As spectra show a chemical pressure effect with doping and a first order structure transition to the collapsed tetragonal phase upon cooling. A sharp drop of the Knight shift is seen below the structural transition, whereas $1/T_1$ is strongly enhanced at low-temperatures. These evidences indicate quenching of Fe local magnetism and short-range ordering of Pr$^{3+}$ moment in the collapsed tetragonal phase. The quenched Fe moment through structure collapse suggests a strong interplay of structure and magnetism, which is important for understanding the nature of the collapsed tetragonal phase.Comment: 5 pages, 5 figure

The suppression of magnetism and the development of superconductivity within the collapsed tetragonal phase of Ca0.67Sr0.33Fe2As2 at high pressure

Structural and electronic characterization of (Ca0.67Sr0.33)Fe2As2 has been performed as a func- tion of pressure up to 12 GPa using conventional and designer diamond anvil cells. The compound (Ca0.67Sr0.33)Fe2As2 behaves intermediate between its end members-CaFe2As2 and SrFe2As2- displaying a suppression of magnetism and the onset of superconductivity. Like other members of the AEFe2As2 family, (Ca0.67Sr0.33)Fe2As2 undergoes a pressure-induced isostructural volume collapse, which we associate with the development of As-As bonding across the mirror plane of the structure. This collapsed tetragonal phase abruptly cuts off the magnetic state, giving rise to superconductivity with a maximum Tc=22.2 K. The maximum Tc of the superconducting phase is not strongly correlated with any structural parameter, but its proximity to the abrupt suppression of magnetism as well as the volume collapse transition suggests that magnetic interactions and structural inhomogeneity may play a role in its development. The pressure-dependent evolution of the ordered states and crystal structures in (Ca,Sr)Fe2As2 provides an avenue to understand the generic behavior of the other members of the AEFe2As2 family.Comment: 9 pages, 9 figure

Structural collapse and superconductivity in rare earth-doped CaFe2As2

Aliovalent rare earth substitution into the alkaline earth site of CaFe2As2 single-crystals is used to fine-tune structural, magnetic and electronic properties of this iron-based superconducting system. Neutron and single crystal x-ray scattering experiments indicate that an isostructural collapse of the tetragonal unit cell can be controllably induced at ambient pressures by choice of substituent ion size. This instability is driven by the interlayer As-As anion separation, resulting in an unprecedented thermal expansion coefficient of $180\times 10^{-6}$ K$^{-1}$. Electrical transport and magnetic susceptibility measurements reveal abrupt changes in the physical properties through the collapse as a function of temperature, including a reconstruction of the electronic structure. Superconductivity with onset transition temperatures as high as 47 K is stabilized by the suppression of antiferromagnetic order via chemical pressure, electron doping or a combination of both. Extensive investigations are performed to understand the observations of partial volume-fraction diamagnetic screening, ruling out extrinsic sources such as strain mechanisms, surface states or foreign phases as the cause of this superconducting phase that appears to be stable in both collapsed and uncollapsed structures.Comment: 15 pages, 18 figure

Transport properties and anisotropy in rare earth doped CaFe2As2 single crystals with Tc above 40 K

In this paper we report the superconductivity above 40 K in the electron doping single crystal Ca1-xRexFe2As2 (Re = La, Ce, Pr). The x-ray diffraction patterns indicate high crystalline quality and c-axis orientation. the resistivity anomaly in the parent compound CaFe2As2 is completely suppressed by partial replacement of Ca by rare earth and a superconducting transition reaches as high as 43 K, which is higher than the value in electron doping FeAs-122 compounds by substituting Fe ions with transition metal, even surpasses the highest values observed in hole doping systems with a transition temperature up to 38 K. The upper critical field has been determined with the magnetic field along ab-plane and c-axis, yielding the anisotropy of 2~3. Hall-effect measurements indicate that the conduction in this material is dominated by electron like charge carriers. Our results explicitly demonstrate the feasibility of inducing superconductivity in Ca122 compounds via electron doping using aliovalent rare earth substitution into the alkaline earth site, which should add more ingredients to the underlying physics of the iron-based superconductors.Comment: 21 pages, 7 figure

FeAs-based superconductivity: a case study of the effects of transition metal doping on BaFe2As2

The recently discovered FeAs-based superconductors are a new, promising set of materials for both technological as well as basic research. They offer transition temperatures as high as 55 K as well as essentially isotropic and extremely large upper, superconducting critical fields in excess of 40 T at 20 K. In addition they may well provide insight into exotic superconductivity that extends beyond just FeAs-based superconductivity, perhaps even shedding light on the still perplexing CuO-based high-Tc materials. Whereas superconductivity can be induced in the RFeAsO (R = rare earth) and AEFe2As2 (AE = Ba, Sr, Ca)) families by a number of means, transition metal doping of BaFe2As2, e.g. Ba(Fe1-xTMx)2As2, offers the easiest experimental access to a wide set of materials. In this review we present an overview and summary of the effect of TM doping (TM = Co, Ni, Cu, Pd, and Rh) on BaFe2As2. The resulting phase diagrams reveal the nature of the interaction between the structural, magnetic and superconducting phase transitions in these compounds and delineate a region of phase space that allows for the stabilization of superconductivity.Comment: edited and shortened version is accepted to AR:Condensed Matter Physic