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ABSTRACT: We report optical spectroscopic measurements on electron- and hole-doped BaFe2As2. We show that the compounds in the normal state are not simple metals. The optical conductivity spectra contain, in addition to the free carrier response at low frequency, a temperature-dependent gap-like suppression at fairly high energy scale near 0.6 eV. This suppression evolves with the As–Fe–As bond angle induced by electron or hole doping. Furthermore, the feature becomes much weaker in the Fe-chalcogenide compounds. We elaborate that the feature is mainly caused by the strong Hund's rule coupling effect between the itinerant electrons and localized electron moment arising from the multiple Fe 3d orbitals. The coupling strength changes with the environment of the Fe atom. Our experiments demonstrate the coexistence of itinerant and localized electrons in iron-based compounds, which would then lead to a more comprehensive picture of the metallic magnetism in the materials.
Journal of Physics Condensed Matter 07/2012; 24(29):294202. · 2.55 Impact Factor
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ABSTRACT: We report an optical investigation on the in-plane charge dynamics for Na$_{1-\delta}$FeAs single crystal. A clear optical evidence for the spin-density wave (SDW) gap is observed. As the structural/magnetic transitions are separated in the Na$_{1-\delta}$FeAs case, we find the SDW gap opens in accordance with the magnetic transition. Comparing with the optical response of other FeAs-based parent compounds, both the gap value 2$\Delta$ and the energy scale for the gap-induced spectral weight redistribution are smaller in Na$_{1-\delta}$FeAs. Our findings support the itinerant origin of the antiferromagnetic transition in the FeAs-based system. Comment: 5 figures, 5 pages
07/2009;
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ABSTRACT: We performed optical spectroscopy measurement on single crystals of BaFe2As2 and SrFe2As2, the parent compounds of FeAs-based superconductors. Both are found to be quite metallic with fairly large plasma frequencies at high temperature. Upon entering the spin-density-wave state, the formation of partial energy gaps was clearly observed with the surprising presence of two different energy scales. A large part of the Drude component was removed by the gapping of Fermi surfaces. Meanwhile, the carrier scattering rate was even more dramatically reduced. We elaborate that the spin-density-wave instability is more likely to be driven by the Fermi surface nesting of itinerant electrons than a local-exchange mechanism.
Physical Review Letters 01/2009; 101(25):257005. · 7.37 Impact Factor
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ABSTRACT: We report on a comprehensive study of the transport, specific heat, magnetic susceptibility, and optical spectroscopy on single crystal of Fe1.05Te, which undergoes a first-order phase transition near 65 K. We show that its physical properties are considerably different from other parent compounds of FeAs-based systems, presumably attributed to the presence of excess Fe ions. The charge transport is rather incoherent above the transition, and no clear signature of the gap is observed below the transition temperature. Strong impurity scattering effect exists also in Se-doped superconducting sample Fe1.03Se0.30Te0.70, leading to a relatively low Tc but a rather high upper critical field.
Phys. Rev. B. 12/2008; 79(14).
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Jun Zhao,
Q. Huang,
Clarina de la Cruz,
Shiliang Li,
J. W. Lynn,
Y. Chen,
M. A. Green,
G. F. Chen, G. Li,
Z. Li,
J. L. Luo,
N. L. Wang,
Pengcheng Dai
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ABSTRACT: Recently, high-transition-temperature (high-Tc) superconductivity was discovered in the iron pnictide RFeAsO1-xFx (R, rare-earth metal) family of materials. We use neutron scattering to study the structural and magnetic phase transitions in CeFeAsO1-xFx as the system is tuned from a semimetal to a high-Tc superconductor through fluorine (F) doping, x. In the undoped state, CeFeAsO develops a structural lattice distortion followed by a collinear antiferromagnetic order with decreasing temperature. With increasing fluorine doping, the structural phase transition decreases gradually and vanishes within the superconductivity dome near x=0.10, whereas the antiferromagnetic order is suppressed before the appearance of superconductivity for x>0.06, resulting in an electronic phase diagram remarkably similar to that of the high-Tc copper oxides. Comparison of the structural evolution of CeFeAsO1-xFx with other Fe-based superconductors suggests that the structural perfection of the Fe–As tetrahedron is important for the high-Tc superconductivity in these Fe pnictides.
Nature Material 10/2008; 7(12):953-959. · 32.84 Impact Factor
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Jun Zhao,
Q Huang,
Clarina de la Cruz,
Shiliang Li,
J W Lynn,
Y Chen,
M A Green,
G F Chen, G Li,
Z Li,
J L Luo,
N L Wang,
Pengcheng Dai
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ABSTRACT: Recently, high-transition-temperature (high-Tc) superconductivity was discovered in the iron pnictide RFeAsO(1-x)F(x) (R, rare-earth metal) family of materials. We use neutron scattering to study the structural and magnetic phase transitions in CeFeAsO(1-x)F(x) as the system is tuned from a semimetal to a high-Tc superconductor through fluorine (F) doping, x. In the undoped state, CeFeAsO develops a structural lattice distortion followed by a collinear antiferromagnetic order with decreasing temperature. With increasing fluorine doping, the structural phase transition decreases gradually and vanishes within the superconductivity dome near x=0.10, whereas the antiferromagnetic order is suppressed before the appearance of superconductivity for x>0.06, resulting in an electronic phase diagram remarkably similar to that of the high-Tc copper oxides. Comparison of the structural evolution of CeFeAsO(1-x)F(x) with other Fe-based superconductors suggests that the structural perfection of the Fe-As tetrahedron is important for the high-Tc superconductivity in these Fe pnictides.
Nature Material 10/2008; 7(12):953-9. · 32.84 Impact Factor
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G F Chen,
Z Li, G Li,
J Zhou,
D Wu,
J Dong,
W Z Hu,
P Zheng,
Z J Chen,
H Q Yuan,
J Singleton,
J L Luo,
N L Wang
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ABSTRACT: 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 over 50 T. A clear signature of superconducting gap opening below T(c) was observed in the far-infrared reflectance spectra, with 2Delta/kT(c) approximately 3.5-4.2. Furthermore, we show that the new superconductor has electron-type conducting carriers with a rather low-carrier density.
Physical Review Letters 09/2008; 101(5):057007. · 7.37 Impact Factor
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ABSTRACT: We performed optical spectroscopy measurement on a superconducting Ba0.6K0.4Fe2As2 single crystal with T{c}=37 K. Formation of the superconducting energy gaps in the far-infrared reflectance spectra below T{c} is clearly observed. A flat and close to unity reflectance is observed roughly below 150 cm;{-1} for T<T{c}, following an s-wave pairing line shape. A more rapid decrease occurs near 200 cm;{-1}, leading to a peak in the ratio of the reflectance at T<T{c} over that for T>or=T{c}. We determined the absolute value of the penetration depth at 10 K as lambda approximately 2000+/-80 A. A spectral weight analysis shows that the Ferrell-Glover-Tinkham sum rule is satisfied at low energy scale, less than 6Delta.
Physical Review Letters 09/2008; 101(10):107004. · 7.37 Impact Factor
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ABSTRACT: Polarized and unpolarized neutron-diffraction measurements have been carried out to investigate the iron magnetic order in undoped NdFeAsO. Antiferromagnetic order is observed below 141(6) K, which is in close proximity to the structural distortion observed in this material. The magnetic structure consists of chains of parallel spins that are arranged antiparallel between chains, which is the same in-plane spin arrangement as observed in all the other iron oxypnictide materials. Nearest-neighbor spins along the c axis are antiparallel like LaFeAsO. The ordered moment is 0.25(7) μB, which is the smallest moment found so far in these systems.
Phys. Rev. B. 08/2008; 78(6).
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ABSTRACT: We performed optical spectroscopy measurement on a superconducting Ba$_{0.6}$K$_{0.4}$Fe$_2$As$_2$ single crystal with T$_c$=37 K. Formation of the superconducting energy gaps in the far-infared reflectance spectra below T$_c$ is clearly observed. The gap amplitudes match well with the two distinct superconducting gaps observed in angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy experiments on different Fermi surfaces. We determined absolute value of the penetration depth at 10 K as $\lambda\simeq2000 \AA$. A spectral weight analysis shows that the Ferrell-Glover-Timkham sum rule is satisfied at low energy scale, less than 6$\Delta$.
08/2008;
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ABSTRACT: We have successfully grown high quality single crystals of SrFe$_2$As$_2$ and A$_{0.6}$K$_{0.4}$Fe$_2$As$_2$(A=Sr, Ba) using flux method. The resistivity, specific heat and Hall coefficient have been measured. For parent compound SrFe$_2$As$_2$, an anisotropic resistivity with $\rho_c/\rho_{ab}$ as large as 130 is obtained at low temperatures. A sharp drop in both in-plane and out-plane resistivity due to the SDW instability is observed below 200 K. The angular dependence of in-plane magnetoresistance shows 2-fold symmetry with field rotating within ab plane below SDW transition temperature. This provides transport evidence for a stripe-type spin ordering. In K doped A$_{0.6}$K$_0.4$Fe$_2$As$_2$(A=Sr. Ba), the SDW instability is suppressed and instead superconductivity appears with T$_c$ above 35 K. The rather low anisotropy in upper critical field between H$\parallel$ab and H$\parallel$c indicates inter-plane coupling play an important role in hole doped Fe-based superconductors.
07/2008;
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Jun Zhao,
Q Huang,
Clarina de la Cruz,
Shiliang Li,
J. W. Lynn,
Y Chen,
M. A. Green,
G. F. Chen, G Li,
Z Li,
J. L. Luo,
N. L. Wang,
Pengcheng Dai
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ABSTRACT: We use neutron scattering to study the structural and magnetic phase transitions in the iron pnictides CeFeAsO1-xFx as the system is tuned from a semimetal to a high-transition-temperature (high-Tc) superconductor through Fluorine (F) doping x. In the undoped state, CeFeAsO develops a structural lattice distortion followed by a stripe like commensurate antiferromagnetic order with decreasing temperature. With increasing Fluorine doping, the structural phase transition decreases gradually while the antiferromagnetic order is suppressed before the appearance of superconductivity, resulting an electronic phase diagram remarkably similar to that of the high-Tc copper oxides. Comparison of the structural evolution of CeFeAsO1-xFx with other Fe-based superconductors reveals that the effective electronic band width decreases systematically for materials with higher Tc. The results suggest that electron correlation effects are important for the mechanism of high-Tc superconductivity in these Fe pnictides.
07/2008;
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ABSTRACT: A series of layered (Sr$_{1-x}$K$_x$)Fe$_2$As$_2$ compounds with nominal x=0 to 0.40 are synthesized by solid state reaction method. Similar to other parent compounds of iron-based pnictide superconductors, the pure SrFe$_2$As$_2$ shows a strong resistivity anomaly near 210 K, which was ascribed to the spin-density-wave instability. The anomaly temperature is much higher than those observed in LaOFeAs and BaFe$_2$As$_2$, the two prototype parent compounds with ZrCuSiAs- and ThCr$_2$Si$_2$-type structures. K-doping strongly suppresses this anomaly and induces superconductivity. Like in the case of K-doped BaFe$_2$As$_2$, sharp superconducting transitions at T$_c\sim$38 K was observed. We performed the Hall coefficient measurement, and confirmed that the dominant carriers are hole-type. The carrier density is enhanced by a factor of 3 in comparison to F-doped LaOFeAs superconductor.
07/2008;
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ABSTRACT: A series of layered CeO1-xFxFeAs compounds with x=0 to 0.20 are synthesized by the solid state reaction method. Similar to the LaOFeAs, the pure CeOFeAs shows a strong resistivity anomaly near 145 K, which was ascribed to the spin-density-wave instability. F doping suppresses this instability and leads to the superconducting ground state. Most surprisingly, the superconducting transition temperature could reach as high as 41 K. Such a high T_{c} strongly challenges the classic BCS theory based on the electron-phonon interaction. The closeness of the superconducting phase to the spin-density-wave instability suggests that the magnetic fluctuation plays a key role in the superconducting pairing mechanism. The study also reveals that the Ce 4f electrons form local moments and are ordered antiferromagnetically below 4 K, which could coexist with superconductivity.
Physical Review Letters 06/2008; 100(24):247002. · 7.37 Impact Factor
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ABSTRACT: We performed optical spectroscopy measurement on single crystals of BaFe$_2$As$_2$ and SrFe$_2$As$_2$, the parent compounds of FeAs based superconductors. Both are found to be quite metallic with fairly large plasma frequencies at high temperature. Upon entering the spin-density-wave (SDW) state, formation of partial energy gaps was clearly observed with the presence of surprisingly two different energy scales. A large part of the Drude component was removed by the gapping of Fermi surfaces (FS). Meanwhile, the carrier scattering rate was even more dramatically reduced. We elaborate that the SDW instability is more likely to be driven by the FS nesting of itinerant electrons rather than a local-exchange mechanism. Comment: 5 pages, 2 figures; Phys. Rev. Lett. (accepted)
06/2008;
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ABSTRACT: The resistivity and Hall resistivity of semimetallic antimony were measured from 2 to 300 K in magnetic fields up to 14 T. We found that in low field, the resistivity shows metallic behavior. In a modest field, the resistivity decreases to a minimum and then increases with decreasing temperature, showing a metal-insulator-like transition. In high field, the resistivity drops at low temperatures, showing an insulator-metal-like transition. The metal-insulator-like behavior can be explained by the competition of zero field resistivity and magneto-resistance, which is reciprocal to the zero field resistivity. The insulator-metal-like behavior can be explained by the imbalance of two carrier densities which changes the magneto-resistance from being reciprocal to proportional to the zero field resistivity.
Journal of Physics Condensed Matter 06/2008; 20(23):235232. · 2.55 Impact Factor
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ABSTRACT: Different element substitution effects in transition metal oxypnictide Re(O$_{1-x}$F$_x$)TAs with Re=La, Ce, Nd, Eu, Gd, Tm, T=Fe, Ni, Ru, were studied. Similar to the La- or Ce-based systems, we found that the pure NdOFeAs shows a strong resistivity anomaly near 145 K, which was ascribed to the spin-density-wave instability. Electron doping by F increases T$_c$ to about 50 K. While in the case of Gd, the T$_c$ is reduced below 10 K. The tetragonal ZrCuSiAs-type structure could not be formed for Eu or Tm substitution in our preparing process. For Ni-based case, although both pure and F-doped LaONiAs are superconducting, no superconductivity was found when La was replaced by Ce in both cases, instead a ferromagnetic ordering transition was likely to form at low temperature in F-doped sample. We also synthesized LaO$_{1-x}$F$_x$RuAs and CeO$_{1-x}$F$_x$RuAs compounds. Metallic behavior was observed down to 4 K.
05/2008;
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ABSTRACT: 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.
04/2008;
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J Dong,
H J Zhang,
G Xu,
Z Li, G Li,
W. Z. Hu,
D Wu,
G. F. Chen,
X Dai,
J. L. Luo,
Z Fang,
N. L. Wang
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ABSTRACT: The interplay between different ordered phases, such as superconducting, charge or spin ordered phases, is of central interest in condensed matter physics. The very recent discovery of superconductivity with a remarkable T$_c$= 26 K in Fe-based oxypnictide La(O$_{1-x}$F$_x$)FeAs is a surprise to the scientific community\cite{Kamihara08}. The pure LaOFeAs itself is not superconducting but shows an anomaly near 150 K in both resistivity and dc magnetic susceptibility. Here we provide combined experimental and theoretical evidences showing that the anomaly is caused by the spin-density-wave (SDW) instability, and electron-doping by F suppresses the SDW instability and recovers the superconductivity. Therefore, the La(O$_{1-x}$F$_x$)FeAs offers an exciting new system showing competing orders in layered compounds.
04/2008;
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Z Li,
G. F. Chen,
J Dong, G Li,
W. Z. Hu,
D Wu,
S. K. Su,
P Zheng,
T. Xiang,
N. L. Wang,
J. L. Luo
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ABSTRACT: 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.
04/2008;
