327 research outputs found
A view from inside iron-based superconductors
Muon spin spectroscopy is one of the most powerful tools to investigate the
microscopic properties of superconductors. In this manuscript, an overview on
some of the main achievements obtained by this technique in the iron-based
superconductors (IBS) are presented. It is shown how the muons allow to probe
the whole phase diagram of IBS, from the magnetic to the superconducting phase,
and their sensitivity to unravel the modifications of the magnetic and the
superconducting order parameters, as the phase diagram is spanned either by
charge doping, by an external pressure or by introducing magnetic and
non-magnetic impurities. Moreover, it is highlighted that the muons are unique
probes for the study of the nanoscopic coexistence between magnetism and
superconductivity taking place at the crossover between the two ground-states.Comment: 28 pages, 18 figure
Evidence for impurity-induced frustration in La2CuO4
Zero-field muon spin rotation and magnetization measurements were performed
in La2Cu{1-x}MxO4, for 0<x< 0.12, where Cu2+ is replaced either by M=Zn2+ or by
M=Mg2+ spinless impurity. It is shown that while the doping dependence of the
sublattice magnetization (M(x)) is nearly the same for both compounds, the
N\'eel temperature (T_N(x)) decreases unambiguously more rapidly in the
Zn-doped compound. This difference, not taken into account within a simple
dilution model, is associated with the frustration induced by the Zn2+ impurity
onto the Cu2+ antiferromagnetic lattice. In fact, from T_N(x) and M(x) the spin
stiffness is derived and found to be reduced by Zn doping more significantly
than expected within a dilution model. The effect of the structural
modifications induced by doping on the exchange coupling is also discussed.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figure
Amorphous ferromagnetism and re-entrant magnetic glassiness in SmMoO: new insights into the electronic phase diagram of pyrochlore molybdates
We discuss the magnetic properties of a SmMoO single
crystal as investigated by means of different experimental techniques. In the
literature, a conventional itinerant ferromagnetic state is reported for the
Mo sublattice below K. However, our results of dc
magnetometry, muon spin spectroscopy (SR) and high-harmonics magnetic
ac susceptibility unambiguously evidence highly disordered conditions in this
phase, in spite of the crystalline and chemical order. This disordered magnetic
state shares several common features with amorphous ferromagnetic alloys. This
scenario for SmMoO is supported by the anomalously high
values of the critical exponents, as mainly deduced by a scaling analysis of
our dc magnetization data and confirmed by the other techniques. Moreover,
SR detects a significant static magnetic disorder at the microscopic
scale. At the same time, the critical divergence of the third-harmonic
component of the ac magnetic susceptibility around K leads to
additional evidence towards the glassy nature of this magnetic phase. Finally,
the longitudinal relaxation of spin polarization (also supported by
results of ac susceptibility) evidences re-entrant glassy features similar to
amorphous ferromagnets.Comment: 15 pages, 13 figure
The poisoning effect of Mn in LaFe(1-x)Mn(x)AsO(0.89)F(0.11): unveiling a quantum critical point in the phase diagram of iron-based superconductors
A superconducting-to-magnetic transition is reported for
LaFeMnAsOF where a per thousand amount of Mn
impurities is dispersed. By employing local spectroscopic techniques like muon
spin rotation (muSR) and nuclear quadrupole resonance (NQR) on compounds with
Mn contents ranging from x=0.025% to x=0.75%, we find that the electronic
properties are extremely sensitive to the Mn impurities. In fact, a small
amount of Mn as low as 0.2% suppresses superconductivity completely. Static
magnetism, involving the FeAs planes, is observed to arise for x > 0.1% and
becomes further enhanced upon increasing Mn substitution. Also a progressive
increase of low energy spin fluctuations, leading to an enhancement of the NQR
spin-lattice relaxation rate 1/T1, is observed upon Mn substitution. The
analysis of 1/T1 for the sample closest to the the crossover between
superconductivity and magnetism (x = 0.2%) points towards the presence of an
antiferromagnetic quantum critical point around that doping level.Comment: 11 pages, 10 figure
Effect of external pressure on the magnetic properties of CoAsO ( = La, Pr, Sm): a SR study
We report on a detailed investigation of the itinerant ferromagnets LaCoAsO,
PrCoAsO and SmCoAsO performed by means of muon spin spectroscopy upon the
application of external hydrostatic pressures up to GPa. These
materials are shown to be magnetically hard in view of the weak dependence of
both critical temperatures and internal fields at the muon site on .
In the cases = La and Sm, the behaviour of the internal field is
substantially unaltered up to GPa. A much richer phenomenology is
detected in PrCoAsO instead, possibly associated with a strong dependence
of the statistical population of the two different crystallographic sites for
the muon. Surprisingly, results are notably different from what is observed in
the case of the isostructural compounds CoPO, where the full As/P
substitution is already inducing a strong chemical pressure within the lattice
but is still very effective in further affecting the magnetic properties.Comment: 8 pages, 9 figure
The onset of magnetism peaked around x=1/4 in optimally electron-doped LnFe(1-x)Ru(x)AsO(1-y)F(y) (Ln = La, Nd or Sm) superconductors
The appearance of static magnetism, nanoscopically coexisting with
superconductivity, is shown to be a general feature of optimally electron-doped
LnFe(1-x)Ru(x)AsO(1-y)F(y) superconductor (Ln - lanthanide ion) upon isovalent
substitution of Fe by Ru. The magnetic ordering temperature T_N and the
magnitude of the internal field display a dome-like dependence on x, peaked
around x=1/4, with higher T_N values for those materials characterized by a
larger z cell coordinate of As. Remarkably, the latter are also those with the
highest superconducting transition temperature (T_c) for x=0. The reduction of
T_c(x) is found to be significant in the x region of the phase diagram where
the static magnetism develops. Upon increasing the Ru content superconductivity
eventually disappears, but only at x=0.6.Comment: accepted for publication in PR
Correlated trends of coexisting magnetism and superconductivity in optimally electron-doped oxy-pnictides
We report on the recovery of the short-range static magnetic order and on the
concomitant degradation of the superconducting state in optimally F-doped
SmFe_(1-x)Ru_(x)AsO_0.85F_0.15 for 0.1< x<0.6. The two reduced order parameters
coexist within nanometer-size domains in the FeAs layers and finally disappear
around a common critical threshold x_c=0.6. Superconductivity and magnetism are
shown to be closely related to two distinct well-defined local electronic
environments of the FeAs layers. The two transition temperatures, controlled by
the isoelectronic and diamagnetic Ru substitution, scale with the volume
fraction of the corresponding environments. This fact indicates that
superconductivity is assisted by magnetic fluctuations, which are frozen
whenever a short-range static order appears, and totally vanish above the
magnetic dilution threshold x_c.Comment: Approved for publication in Phys. Rev. Letter
Tuning of competing magnetic and superconducting phase volumes in LaFeAsO$_0.945F_0.055 by hydrostatic pressure
The interplay between magnetism and superconductivity in LaFeAsO_0.945F_0.055
was studied as a function of hydrostatic pressure up to p~2.4GPa by means of
muon-spin rotation (\muSR) and magnetization measurements. The application of
pressure leads to a substantial decrease of the magnetic ordering temperature
T_N and a reduction of the magnetic phase volume and, at the same time, to a
strong increase of the superconducting transition temperature T_c and the
diamagnetic susceptibility. From the volume sensitive \muSR measurements it can
be concluded that the superconducting and the magnetic areas which coexist in
the same sample are inclined towards spatial separation and compete for phase
volume as a function of pressure.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figure
Nanoscopic coexistence of magnetic and superconducting states within the FeAs layers of CeFeAsO1-xFx
We report on the coexistence of magnetic and superconducting states in
CeFeAsO1-xFx for x=0.06(2), characterized by transition temperatures T_m=30 K
and T_c=18 K, respectively. Zero and transverse field muon-spin relaxation
measurements show that below 10 K the two phases coexist within a nanoscopic
scale over a large volume fraction. This result clarifies the nature of the
magnetic-to-superconducting transition in the CeFeAsO1-xFx phase diagram, by
ruling out the presence of a quantum critical point which was suggested by
earlier studies.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figs, accepted for publication as PRB Rapid com
AC susceptibility investigation of vortex dynamics in nearly-optimally doped REFeAsOF superconductors (RE = La, Ce, Sm)
Ac susceptibility and static magnetization measurements were performed in the
nearly-optimally doped LaFeAsOF and CeFeAsOF
superconductors, complementing earlier results on SmFeAsOF
[Phys. Rev. {\bf B 83}, 174514 (2011)]. The magnetic field -- temperature phase
diagram of the mixed superconducting state is drawn for the three materials,
displaying a sizeable reduction of the liquid phase upon increasing in
the range of applied fields ( T). This result indicates that
SmFeAsOF is the most interesting compound among the
investigated ones in view of possible applications. The field-dependence of the
intra-grain depinning energy exhibits a common trend for all the
samples with a typical crossover field value (2500 Oe Oe) separating regions where single and collective depinning processes
are at work. Analysis of the data in terms of a simple two-fluid picture for
slightly anisotropic materials allows to estimate the zero-temperature
penetration depth and the anisotropy parameter for
the three materials. Finally, a sizeable suppression of the superfluid density
is deduced in a two-gap scenario
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