Observation of Jonscher Law in AC Hopping Conduction of Electron-Doped Nanoporous Crystal 12CaO7Al2O3 in THz Frequency Range

We have performed terahertz time-domain spectroscopy of carrier-doped nanoporous crystal 12CaO7Al2O3 showing the Mott variable range hopping at room temperature. The real part of the dielectric constant clearly demonstrates the nature of localized carriers. The frequency dependence of both the real and imaginary parts of the dielectric constant can be simply explained by assuming two contributions: a dielectric response by the parent compound with no carriers and an AC hopping conduction with the Jonscher law generally reported up to GHz range. The possible obedience to the Jonscher law in the THz range suggests a relaxation time of the hopping carriers much faster than 1ps in the carrier-doped 12CaO7Al2O3.Comment: 4pages 3figures. to be published in Phys. Rev.

Magnetic order in CaFe1-xCoxAsF (x = 0, 0.06, 0.12) superconductor compounds

A Neutron Powder Diffraction (NPD) experiment has been performed to investigate the structural phase transition and magnetic order in CaFe1-xCoxAsF superconductor compounds (x = 0, 0.06, 0.12). The parent compound CaFeAsF undergoes a tetragonal to orthorhombic phase transition at 134(3) K, while the magnetic order in form of a spin-density wave (SDW) sets in at 114(3) K. The antiferromagnetic structure of the parent compound has been determined with a unique propagation vector k = (1,0,1) and the Fe saturation moment of 0.49(5)uB aligned along the long a-axis. With increasing Co doping, the long range antiferromagnetic order has been observed to coexist with superconductivity in the orthorhombic phase of the underdoped CaFe0.94Co0.06AsF with a reduced Fe moment (0.15(5)uB). Magnetic order is completely suppressed in optimally doped CaFe0.88Co0.12AsF. We argue that the coexistence of SDW and superconductivity might be related to mesoscopic phase separation.Comment: 4pages, 4figure

Insular superconductivity in Co-doped iron pnictide CaFe1−x_{1-x}Cox_xAsF

The presence of macroscopic phase separation between the superconducting and magnetic phases in \cfcaf is demonstrated by muon spin rotation (muSR) measurements conducted across their phase boundaries (x=0.05-0.15). The magnetic phase tends to retain the high transition temperature (T_m > T_c), while Co-doping induces strong randomness. The volumetric fraction of superconducting phase is nearly proportional to the Co content $x$ with constant superfluid density. These observations suggest the formation of superconducting "islands" (or domains) associated with Co ions in the Fe$_2$As$_2$ layers, indicating a very short coherence length.Comment: 5 pages, 5 figure

Comparison of crystal structures and effects of Co substitution in a new member of Fe-1111 superconductor family AeFeAsF(Ae = Ca and Sr): a possible candidate for higher Tc superconductor

We refined crystal structures of newly found members of the Fe-1111 superconductor family, CaFe\_{1-x}Co\_{x}AsF and SrFe\_{1-x}Co\_{x}AsF (x = 0, 0.06, 0.12) by powder synchrotron X-ray diffraction analysis. The tetragonal to orthorhombic phase transitions were observed at ~120 K for unsubstituted CaFeAsF and at ~180 K for unsubstituted SrFeAsF, the transition temperatures agreeing with kinks observed in temperature-dependent resistivity curves. Although the transition temperature decreases, the structural phase transitions were observed below 100 K in both samples of x = 0.06, and finally they were suppressed in the doping level of x = 0.12. The refined structures reveal that distortions of the FeAs4 tetrahedron from the regular tetrahedron likely originate from mismatches in atomic radii among the constituent elements. In this system, the enlarged FeAs4 tetrahedron resulting from larger radius of Sr than that of Ca is flattened along a-b plane, whereas the smaller radius of Ca makes the tetrahedron closer to regular one, and their characteristic shapes are further enhanced by Co substitution. These results suggest that the CaFeAsF compound is a promising candidate for higher-Tc superconductor.Comment: 17 pages, 8 figures, 2 tables, Supplementary information is included at the end of the documen

Phonon spectra in CaFe2As2 and Ca0.6Na0.4Fe2As2: Measurement of the pressure and temperature dependence and comparison with ab-initio and shell model calculations

We report the pressure and temperature dependence of the phonon density-of-states in superconducting Ca0.6Na0.4Fe2As2 (Tc=21 K) and the parent compound CaFe2As2, using inelastic neutron scattering. We observe no significant change in the phonon spectrum for Ca0.6Na0.4Fe2As2 at 295 K up to pressures of 5 kbar. The phonon spectrum for CaFe2As2 shows softening of the low-energy modes by about 1 meV when decreasing the temperature from 300 K to 180 K. There is no appreciable change in the phonon density of states across the structural and anti-ferromagnetic phase transition at 172 K. These results, combined with our earlier temperature dependent phonon density of states measurements for Ca0.6Na0.4Fe2As2, indicate that the softening of low-energy phonon modes in these compounds may be due to the interaction of phonons with electron or short-range spin fluctuations in the normal state of the superconducting compound as well as in the parent compound. The phonon spectra are analyzed with ab-initio and empirical model calculations giving partial densities of states and dispersion relations.Comment: 14 pages, 6 figure

Synchrotron X-ray Diffraction Study of BaFe2As2 and CaFe2As2 at High Pressures up to 56 GPa: Ambient and Low-Temperatures Down to 33 K

We report high pressure powder synchrotron x-ray diffraction studies on MFe2As2 (M=Ba, Ca) over a range of temperatures and pressures up to about 56 GPa using a membrane diamond anvil cell. A phase transition to a collapsed tetragonal phase is observed in both compounds upon compression. However, at 300 (33) K in the Ba-compound the transition occurs at 26 (29) GPa, which is a much higher pressure than 1.7 (0.3) GPa at 300 (40) K in the Ca-compound, due to its larger volume. It is important to note that the transition in both compounds occurs when they are compressed to almost the same value of the unit cell volume and attain similar ct/at ratios. We also show that the FeAs4 tetrahedra are much less compressible and more distorted in the collapsed tetragonal phase than their nearly regular shape in the ambient pressure phase. We present a detailed analysis of the pressure dependence of the structures as well as equation of states in these important BaFe2As2 and CaFe2As2 compounds.Comment: 26 pages, 12 figure

Neutron diffraction study on phase transition and thermal expansion of SrFeAsF

The magnetic ordering and crystal structure of iron pnictide SrFeAsF was investigated by using neutron powder diffraction method. With decreasing temperature, the tetragonal to orthorhombic phase transition is found at 180 K, while the paramagnetic to antiferromagnetic phase transition set in at 133 K. Similar to the parent compound of other iron pnictide system, the striped Fe magnetism is confirmed in antiferromagnetic phase and the Fe moment of 0.58(6) uB aligned along long a axis. The thermal expansion of orthorhombic phase of SrFeAsF is also investigated. Based on the Grueneisen approximation and Debye approximation for internal energy, the volume of SrFeAsF can be well fitted with Debye temperature of 347(5) K. The experimental atomic displacement parameters for different crystallographic sites in SrFeAsF are analyzed with Debye model. The results suggested that the expansion of FeAs layers plays an important role in determining the thermal expansion coefficient.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figure