Superconducting phases in potassium-intercalated iron selenides.
19 Feb 2013-Journal of the American Chemical Society (American Chemical Society)-Vol. 135, Iss: 8, pp 2951-2954
TL;DR: It is reported that there are at least two pure SC phases, K(x)Fe(2)Se(2)(NH(3))(y) (x ≈ 0.3 and 0.6), determined mainly by potassium concentration in the K-intercalated iron selenides formed via the liquid ammonia route.
Abstract: The ubiquitous coexistence of majority insulating 245 phases and minority superconducting (SC) phases in AxFe2–ySe2 (A = K, Cs, Rb, Tl/Rb, Tl/K) formed by high-temperature routes makes pure SC phases highly desirable for studying the intrinsic properties of this SC family. Here we report that there are at least two pure SC phases, KxFe2Se2(NH3)y (x ≈ 0.3 and 0.6), determined mainly by potassium concentration in the K-intercalated iron selenides formed via the liquid ammonia route. K0.3Fe2Se2(NH3)0.47 corresponds to the 44 K phase with lattice constant c = 15.56(1) A and K0.6Fe2Se2(NH3)0.37 to the 30 K phase with c = 14.84(1) A. With higher potassium doping, the 44 K phase can be converted into the 30 K phase. NH3 has little, if any, effect on superconductivity. Thus, the conclusions should apply to both K0.3Fe2Se2 and K0.6Fe2Se2 SC phases. K0.3Fe2Se2(NH3)0.47 and K0.6Fe2Se2(NH3)0.37 stand out among known superconductors as their structures are stable only at particular potassium doping levels, and hence t...
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TL;DR: This review summarizes the major achievements of the project in newly found superconducting materials, and the fabrication wires and tapes of iron-based superconductors; it incorporates a list of ∼700 unsuccessful materials examined for superconductivity in the project.
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TL;DR: The present results demonstrate that tetragonal FeS is a promising new platform to realize high-temperature superconductors and plays important roles in the observation of superconductivity.
Abstract: The possibility of superconductivity in tetragonal FeS has attracted considerable interest because of its similarities to the FeSe superconductor. However, all efforts made to pursue superconductivity in tetragonal FeS have failed so far, and it remains controversial whether tetragonal FeS is metallic or semiconducting. Here we report the observation of superconductivity at 5 K in tetragonal FeS that is synthesized by the hydrothermal reaction of iron powder with sulfide solution. The obtained samples are highly crystalline and less air-sensitive, in contrast to those reported in the literature, which are meta-stable and air-sensitive. Magnetic and electrical properties measurements show that the samples behave as a paramagnetic metal in the normal state and exhibit superconductivity below 5 K. The high crystallinity and the stoichiometry of the samples play important roles in the observation of superconductivity. The present results demonstrate that tetragonal FeS is a promising new platform to realize h...
167 citations
TL;DR: The observation of superconductivity in an iron honeycomb lattice accompanied with pressure-driven spin-crossover, in-plane lattice collapse and insulator-metal transition is reported.
Abstract: The discovery of iron-based superconductors (FeSCs), with the highest transition temperature (Tc) up to 55 K, has attracted worldwide research efforts over the past ten years. So far, all these FeSCs structurally adopt FeSe-type layers with a square iron lattice and superconductivity can be generated by either chemical doping or external pressure. Herein, we report the observation of superconductivity in an iron-based honeycomb lattice via pressure-driven spin-crossover. Under compression, the layered FePX3 (X = S, Se) simultaneously undergo large in-plane lattice collapses, abrupt spin-crossovers, and insulator-metal transitions. Superconductivity emerges in FePSe3 along with the structural transition and vanishing of magnetic moment with a starting Tc ~ 2.5 K at 9.0 GPa and the maximum Tc ~ 5.5 K around 30 GPa. The discovery of superconductivity in iron-based honeycomb lattice provides a demonstration for the pursuit of transition-metal-based superconductors via pressure-driven spin-crossover.
125 citations
TL;DR: Electrical resistivity and magnetic susceptibility measurements reveal superconductivity at 43 K, and isothermal magnetization measurements confirm the superposition of ferromagnetic and superconducting hysteresis.
Abstract: Superconducting [(Li(1-x)Fex)OH](Fe(1-y)Liy)Se (x ~ 0.2, y ~ 0.08) was synthesized by hydrothermal methods and structurally characterized by single crystal X-ray diffraction. The crystal structure contains anti-PbO type (Fe(1-y)Liy)Se layers separated by layers of (Li(1-x)Fex)OH. Electrical resistivity and magnetic susceptibility measurements reveal superconductivity at 43 K. An anomaly in the diamagnetic shielding indicates ferromagnetic ordering near 10 K while superconductivity is retained. The ferromagnetism emerges from the iron atoms in the (Li(1-x)Fex)OH layer. Isothermal magnetization measurements confirm the superposition of ferromagnetic with superconducting hysteresis. The internal ferromagnetic field is larger than the lower, but smaller than the upper critical field of the superconductor, which gives evidence for a spontaneous vortex phase where both orders coexist. 57Fe-Mossbauer spectra, 7Li-NMR spectra, and muSR experiments consistently support this rare situation, especially in a bulk material where magnetism emerges from a 3d-element.
115 citations
TL;DR: In this article, a single-crystal and powder X-ray diffraction was performed on a superconducting (Li 1−xFex)OH with alternating layers of anti-PbO type (Fe 1−yLiy)Se and anti-pbO Type (Li1−xFeEx)OH, and the formation of a spontaneous vortex phase where both orders coexist is supported by 57Fe-Mossbauer spectra, 7Li-NMR spectra and μSR experiments.
Abstract: Superconducting [(Li1−xFex)OH](Fe1−yLiy)Se (x≈0.2, y≈0.08) was synthesized by hydrothermal methods and characterized by single-crystal and powder X-ray diffraction. The structure contains alternating layers of anti-PbO type (Fe1−yLiy)Se and (Li1−xFex)OH. Electrical resistivity and magnetic susceptibility measurements reveal superconductivity at 43 K. An anomaly in the diamagnetic shielding indicates ferromagnetic ordering near 10 K while superconductivity is retained. The ferromagnetism is from the iron atoms in the (Li1−xFex)OH layer. Isothermal magnetization measurements confirm the superposition of ferromagnetic and superconducting hysteresis. The internal ferromagnetic field is larger than the lower, but smaller than the upper critical field of the superconductor. The formation of a spontaneous vortex phase where both orders coexist is supported by 57Fe-Mossbauer spectra, 7Li-NMR spectra, and μSR experiments.
113 citations
References
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TL;DR: The ternary iron arsenide (BaFe) becomes superconducting by hole doping, which was achieved by partial substitution of the barium site with potassium as mentioned in this paper, which was the first superconductivity discovery.
Abstract: The ternary iron arsenide ${\mathrm{BaFe}}_{2}{\mathrm{As}}_{2}$ becomes superconducting by hole doping, which was achieved by partial substitution of the barium site with potassium. We have discovered bulk superconductivity at ${T}_{c}=38\text{ }\text{ }\mathrm{K}$ in $({\mathrm{Ba}}_{1\ensuremath{-}x}{\mathrm{K}}_{x}){\mathrm{Fe}}_{2}{\mathrm{As}}_{2}$ with $x\ensuremath{\approx}0.4$. The parent compound ${\mathrm{BaFe}}_{2}{\mathrm{As}}_{2}$ crystallizes in the tetragonal ${\mathrm{ThCr}}_{2}{\mathrm{Si}}_{2}$-type structure, which consists of $(\mathrm{FeAs}{)}^{\ensuremath{\delta}\ensuremath{-}}$ iron arsenide layers separated by ${\mathrm{Ba}}^{2+}$ ions. ${\mathrm{BaFe}}_{2}{\mathrm{As}}_{2}$ is a poor metal and exhibits a spin density wave anomaly at 140 K. By substituting ${\mathrm{Ba}}^{2+}$ for ${\mathrm{K}}^{+}$ ions we have introduced holes in the $(\mathrm{FeAs}{)}^{\ensuremath{-}}$ layers, which suppress the anomaly and induce superconductivity. The ${T}_{c}$ of 38 K in $({\mathrm{Ba}}_{0.6}{\mathrm{K}}_{0.4}){\mathrm{Fe}}_{2}{\mathrm{As}}_{2}$ is the highest in hole doped iron arsenide superconductors so far. Therefore, we were able to expand this class of superconductors by oxygen-free compounds with the ${\mathrm{ThCr}}_{2}{\mathrm{Si}}_{2}$-type structure.
2,475 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the superconductivity at above 30 K in a FeSe-layer compound K0.8Fe2Se2 (nominal composition) achieved by metal K intercalating in between FeSe layers was reported.
Abstract: We report the superconductivity at above 30 K in a FeSe-layer compound K0.8Fe2Se2 (nominal composition) achieved by metal K intercalating in between FeSe layers. It is isostructural to BaFe2As2 and possesses the highest T-c for FeSe-layer materials so far under ambient pressure. Hall effect indicates the carriers are dominated by electron in this superconductor. We confirm that the observed superconductivity at above 30 K is due to this FeSe-based 122 phase. Our results demonstrate that FeSe-layer materials are really remarkable superconductors via structure and carrier modulation.
967 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the composition of the spacer layers present in iron-based superconductors is altered to increase the temperature below which they superconduct, and intercalating FeSe with molecular spacer layer is also shown to enhance the superconducting transition temperature.
Abstract: Altering the composition of the spacer layers present in iron-based superconductors is one strategy for increasing the temperature below which they superconduct. Now, intercalating FeSe with molecular spacer layers is also shown to enhance the superconducting transition temperature.
365 citations
TL;DR: The sign change in the s(±) pairing symmetry driven by the interband scattering becomes conceptually irrelevant in describing the superconducting state here and a more conventional s-wave pairing is probably a better description.
Abstract: Knowledge of the symmetry of the superconducting order parameter is essential to understand the origin of superconductivity itself. Studies on the recently discovered heavily doped Fe2Se2 now show that in these compounds the order parameter has a relatively simple symmetry compared with most other Fe-based superconductors, questioning again the generality of the results obtained so far.
349 citations
TL;DR: The first Fe-based high-temperature superconductivity (HTSC) at the verge of an AFM insulator was discovered in (Tl,K)FexSe2 (1.30, K) compounds.
Abstract: (Tl,K)FexSe2 single crystals were first successfully synthesized with the Bridgeman method. The physical properties are characterized by electrical resistivity, magnetic susceptibility and Hall coefficient. We found that the (Tl,K)FexSe2 (1.30 ≤ x ≤ 1.65) compounds show an antiferromagetic (AFM) insulator behavior, which may be associated with the Fe-vacancy ordering in the crystals. While in the 1.70 ≤ x < 1.78 crystals, superconductivity (SC) coexists with an insulating phase. As Fe content further increases, the bulk SC with Tc=31 K (and a Tconset as high as 40 K) appears in the 1.78 ≤ x ≤ 1.88 crystals. Our discovery represents the first Fe-based high-temperature superconductivity (HTSC) at the verge of an AFM insulator.
346 citations