Superconductivity at 41 K and its competition with spin-density-wave instability in layered CeO1−x_{1-x}Fx_xFeAs

A series of layered CeO$_{1-x}$F$_x$FeAs compounds with x=0 to 0.20 are synthesized by solid state reaction method. Similar to the LaOFeAs, the pure CeOFeAs shows a strong resistivity anomaly near 145 K, which was ascribed to the spin-density-wave instability. F-doping suppresses this instability and leads to the superconducting ground state. Most surprisingly, the superconducting transition temperature could reach as high as 41 K. The very high superconducting transition temperature strongly challenges the classic BCS theory based on the electron-phonon interaction. The very closeness of the superconducting phase to the spin-density-wave instability suggests that the magnetic fluctuations play a key role in the superconducting paring mechanism. The study also reveals that the Ce 4f electrons form local moments and ordered antiferromagnetically below 4 K, which could coexist with superconductivity.Comment: 4 pages, 5 figure

Strong-coupling superconductivity in layered nickel-based LaO1−x_{1-x}Fx_xNiAs

A series of layered nickel-based LaO$_{1-x}$F$_x$NiAs compounds with x=0 to 0.15 are synthesized by solid state reactions. The pure LaONiAs exhibits bulk superconductivity with Tc $\sim$ 2.75 K. Partial substitution of oxygen by fluorine increases the transition temperature to $\sim 3.8$ K. The LaO$_{0.9}$F$_{0.1}$NiAs sample shows a sharp superconducting transition and a sharp specific heat jump at the critical temperature. The magnitude of the specific heat jump is much larger than that expected from the weak-coupling BCS theory, indicating that this superconductor is in the strong coupling regime. Furthermore, the temperature dependence of the specific heat deviates strongly from the theoretical result for the single-band s- or d-wave superconductor, but shows some character of a multi-gap system.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figure

Superconducting properties of Fe-based layered superconductor LaO0.9_{0.9}F0.1−δ_{0.1-\delta}FeAs

We have employed a new route to synthesize single phase F-doped LaOFeAs compound and confirmed the superconductivity above 20 K in this Fe-based system. We show that the new superconductor has a rather high upper critical field of about 54 T. A clear signature of superconducting gap opening below T$_c$ was observed in the far-infrared reflectance spectra, with 2$\Delta/\textit{k}T_c\approx$3.5-4.2. Furthermore, we show that the new superconductor has electron-type conducting carrier with a rather low carrier density.Comment: 4 pages, 5 figures, Phys. Rev. Lett. (accepted

Superconductivity and Phase Diagram in the Iron-based Arsenic-oxides ReFeAsO1-delta (Re = rare earth metal) without F-Doping

Here we report a new class of superconductors prepared by high pressure synthesis in the quaternary family ReFeAsO1-delta (Re = Sm, Nd, Pr, Ce, La) without fluorine doping. The onset superconducting critical temperature (Tc) in these compounds increases with the reduction of Re atom size, and the highest Tc obtained so far is 55 K in SmFeAsO1-delta. For the NdFeAsO1-delta system with different oxygen concentration a dome-shaped phase diagram was found

Superconductivity at 53.5 K in GdFeAsO1-delta

Here we report the fabrication and superconductivity of the iron-based arsenic-oxide GdFeAsO1-delta compound with oxygen-deficiency, which has an onset resistivity transition temperature at 53.5 K. This material has a same crystal structure as the newly discovered high-Tc ReFeAsO1-delta family (Re = rare earth metal) and a further reduced crystal lattice, while the Tc starts to decrease compared with the SmFeAsO1-delta system

Nernst effect of the new iron-based superconductor LaO1−x_{1-x}Fx_{x}FeAs

We report the first Nernst effect measurement on the new iron-based superconductor LaO$_{1-x}$F$_{x}$FeAs $(x=0.1)$. In the normal state, the Nernst signal is negative and very small. Below $T_{c}$ a large positive peak caused by vortex motion is observed. The flux flowing regime is quite large compared to conventional type-II superconductors. However, a clear deviation of the Nernst signal from normal state background and an anomalous depression of off-diagonal thermoelectric current in the normal state between $T_{c}$ and 50 K are observed. We propose that this anomaly in the normal state Nernst effect could correlate with the SDW fluctuations.Comment: 8 pages, 4 figures; Latex file changed, references adde

Pressure Effect on the superconducting properties of LaO_{1-x}F_{x}FeAs(x=0.11) superconductor

Diamagnetic susceptibility measurements under high hydrostatic pressure (up to 1.03 GPa) were carried out on the newly discovered Fe-based superconductor LaO_{1-x}F_{x}FeAs(x=0.11). The transition temperature T_c, defined as the point at the maximum slope of superconducting transition, was enhanced almost linearly by hydrostatic pressure, yielding a dT_c/dP of about 1.2 K/GPa. Differential diamagnetic susceptibility curves indicate that the underlying superconducting state is complicated. It is suggested that pressure plays an important role on pushing low T_c superconducting phase toward the main (optimal) superconducting phase.Comment: 7 pages, 4 figure

Growth and characterization of A_{1-x}K_xFe_2As_2 (A = Ba, Sr) single crystals with x=0 - 0.4

Single crystals of A$_{1-x}$K$_x$Fe$_2$As$_2$ (A=Ba, Sr) with high quality have been grown successfully by FeAs self-flux method. The samples have sizes up to 4 mm with flat and shiny surfaces. The X-ray diffraction patterns suggest that they have high crystalline quality and c-axis orientation. The non-superconducting crystals show a spin-density-wave (SDW) instability at about 173 K and 135 K for Sr-based and Ba-based compound, respectively. After doping K as the hole dopant into the BaFe$_2$As$_2$ system, the SDW transition is smeared, and superconducting samples with the compound of Ba$_{1-x}$K$_x$Fe$_2$As$_2$ (0 $< x \leqslant$ 0.4) are obtained. The superconductors characterized by AC susceptibility and resistivity measurements exhibit very sharp superconducting transition at about 36 K, 32 K, 27 K and 23 K for x= 0.40,0.28,0.25 and 0.23, respectively.Comment: 9 pages, 6 figures, 1 table. This paper together with new data are modified into a new pape

57Fe Mossbauer spectroscopy and magnetic measurements of oxygen deficient LaFeAsO

We report on the magnetic behavior of oxygen deficient LaFeAsO1-x (x-0.10) compound, prepared by one-step synthesis, which crystallizes in the tetragonal (S.G. P4/nmm) structure at room temperature. Resistivity measurements show a strong anomaly near 150 K, which is ascribed to the spin density wave (SDW) instability. On the other hand, dc magnetization data shows paramagnetic-like features down to 5 K, with an effective moment of 0.83 mB/Fe. 57Fe Mossbauer studies (MS) have been performed at 95 and 200 K. The spectra at both temperatures are composed of two sub-spectra. At 200 K the major one (88%), is almost a singlet, and corresponds to those Fe nuclei, which have two oxygen ions in their close vicinity. The minor one, with a large quadrupole splitting, corresponds to Fe nuclei, which have vacancies in their immediate neighborhood. The spectrum at 95 K, exhibits a broadened magnetic split major (84%) sub-spectrum and a very small magnetic splitting in the minor subspectrum. The relative intensities of the subspectra facilitate in estimating the actual amount of oxygen vacancies in the compound to be 7.0(5)%, instead of the nominal LaFeAsO0.90. These results, when compared with reported 57Fe MS of non-superconducting LaFeAsO and superconducting LaFeAsO0.9F0.1, confirm that the studied LaFeAsO0.93 is a superconductivity-magnetism crossover compound of the newly discovered Fe based superconducting family.Comment: 7 pages text + Figs : Comments/suggestions welcome ([email protected]