铁基和镍基氧磷族化合物超导体研究

本文介绍了铁基超导体发展的重要进展,对铁基超导体的结构进行了分类与总结,通过最新的实验数据对铁基超导体中结构相变和自旋密度波与超导电性之间的关系进行了系统的分析与总结,并结合我们的实验结果与镍基超导体进行了对比,最后对铁基超导体的发展做一些展望.     

LiFeAs超导体中磁性与声子软化

运用第一性原理密度泛函理论研究了铁基超导体LiFeAs的电子结构和声子谱.计算得到的LiFeAs基态具有涨落的条型反铁磁构型.通过比较LiFeAs在非磁态与条形反铁磁态下的声子态密度,发现,LiFeAs中各向异性自旋互作用的竞争产生了不稳定的自旋密度波和部分晶格位置弛豫,导致Fe和As原子振动模式的软化,从而提高电声子耦合强度.因此,自旋-声子互作用对非常规超导电性有重要贡献. 关键词： 铁基超导体 反铁磁序 超导电性 电声子耦合     

铁基超导体系中的竞争序

文章简要介绍铁基超导体系中存在的一种竞争序,即超导与自旋密度波有序之间的竞争,它是理解铁基超导体物理性质与机理的基础.     

铁基超导体的输运性质

在铁基超导体中存在着多种有序态,例如电子向列相和自旋密度波等,从而呈现出丰富的物理现象.输运性质的测量能为认识铁基超导体的低能激发提供极为有用的信息.铁砷超导体由于其电子结构的多能带特性,其电阻率和霍尔系数与温度的关系出现多样性的变化,但在正常态并没有看到有类似铜氧化物超导体的赝能隙打开等奇异行为.在空穴型掺杂的铁基超导体中观测到霍尔系数在低温下变号,对应温区的电阻率上出现一个很宽的鼓包等,可能是从非相干到相干态的转变.热电势行为也表现出与铜氧化物超导体的明显差异,比如铁基超导体的正常态热电势的绝对值反而在最佳掺杂区是最大的,这也许跟强的带间散射有关.能斯特效应表明铁基超导体在Tc以上的超导位相涨落并不明显,与铜氧化物超导体存在明显差别.在铁基超导体上所显示出来的这些反常热电性质,并没有在类似结构的镍基超导体(如LaNiAsO)上观测到,镍基超导体表现得更像一个通常的金属.这些均说明铁基超导体的奇异输运性质与其高温超导电性存在内在的关联,这些因素是建立其超导机理时需要考虑进去的.     

压力下铁砷基化合物的超导电性研究

随着高压实验设备与技术的不断发展,压力作为对物质状态调控的独立变量在凝聚态物理研究中得到了越来越广泛的应用.高压研究对发现新材料、新现象、新规律及对其形成机理的理解和对相关理论的验证起到了不可替代的重要作用,近年来在对铁基超导体超导电性的高压研究中取得的诸多重要研究进展充分说明了这一点.本文简要介绍了在压力下铁砷基超导体中呈现出的一些有趣的物理现象及其所反映出的物理内涵,例如,压力下对1111体系超导电性的研究在指导常压下用小离子半径元素替代获得最高超导转变温度的铁砷基超导体和推测铁砷基超导体超导转变温度上限等方面起到了重要作用;压力可抑制122体系母相的磁有序进而诱发超导电性,并揭示出Eu-122体系中Eu离子插层的磁有序与FeAs层超导电性的关系;在新型铁砷基超导体Ca_(0.73)La_(0.27)FeAs_2中发现的压致双临界点现象等.希望本文能对读者了解铁砷基超导体的高压研究进展情况有所帮助.     

自旋与轨道耦合效应影响下的p波超导体的直流Josephson电流

在Bogoliubov-de Gennes(BdG)方程的基础上,研究了考虑自旋与轨道耦合效应下s波超导体/绝缘层/p波超导体结的直流Josephson效应.研究表明:p波超导体结的直流Josephson电流与温度、结的相位差的关系强烈地依赖于p波超导体的配对势形式,结界面的自旋与轨道耦合散射对s/I/p波的结直流Josephson电流有抑制作用也有增强作用.     

铁基超导体中的长程反铁磁序

文章回顾了用中子散射技术对铁基超导体中所存在的三维长程反铁磁序进行研究的进展.大多数铁基超导体母体的晶体结构在温度降低时都经历了从四方相变化到正交相或单斜相的结构相变.在此相变温度之下,自旋系统也从顺磁变化到三维长程反铁磁.在掺杂之后,结构相变和磁相变都被压制,而超导则最终出现.文章详细介绍了各种母体中的三维反铁磁结构及其自旋波频谱,并讨论了掺杂对反铁磁相变和晶格相变的影响.     

铁基超导体的扫描隧道显微镜研究进展

铁基高温超导体自2008年发现以来,对其超导电性的研究一直是一个热门的课题.扫描隧道显微镜能够在原子尺度进行表面形貌和隧道谱测量,从微观角度研究电子态密度的信息,是研究超导的重要谱学手段.近年来,在铁基超导电性方面,扫描隧道显微镜实验已经积累了一些有价值的结果,本文进行了总结介绍.铁基超导体是多带多超导能隙的超导体,不同材料的费米面结构有很大的变化.扫描隧道显微镜证明,同时有电子和空穴费米面最佳掺杂的铁基样品超导能隙结构是无节点并带有能隙符号变化的s^±波.而进一步的实验发现在没有空穴费米面的FeSe基超导体中也存在能隙符号的相反,对统一铁基超导体的配对对称性提供了重要实验证据.此外,扫描隧道显微镜在研究铁基超导体的电子向列相、浅能带特性、可能的拓扑特性方面,提供了重要的实验数据.本文对上述相关内容进行了总结,并做了相应分析和讨论.     

铁基超导体中的化学掺杂研究

目前已经发现的绝大部分铁基超导体都是通过化学掺杂而得到的。铁基超导体的母体一般在200K以下经历自旋密度波（SDW）转变：即其基态是一类巡游电子反铁磁不良导体。通过适当的元素替代可以在FeAs层产生额外的电子、空穴、巡游性或化学压力,从而有效地抑制SDW序,实现超导电性。本文侧重作者所在小组的相关研究结果,将铁基超导体中的元素替代研究分为FeAs层外和FeAs层内掺杂两大类,依次介绍和评述两年来国际上对4种主要铁基化合物中的化学掺杂研究进展。     

正常金属/自旋三重态p波超导体结隧道谱的奇异性

利用Blonder，Tinkham和Klapwijk理论计算了正常金属/绝缘层/正常金属/自旋三重态的p波超导体结的隧道谱和平均电流.计算结果表明：在自旋三重态p波超导结的隧道谱中存在零偏压电导峰、零偏压电导凹陷和双凹陷结构，并有微分电导随偏压震荡的现象出现，在I-V曲线上出现电流台阶.这些结果在理论上支持Sr₂RuO₄的超导态是自旋三重态p波超导态. 关键词： 自旋三重态超导体 p波超导体 隧道谱     

Transition temperature model based on specific heat data of an FeAs-based superconductor

In this article, we studied the specific heat data of iron-based superconductors LaO_{1? x} F _x FeAs (x?=?0.1) and SmO_{1? x} F _x FeAs (x?=?0.13,?0.12, and 0.1). (i) The contribution of phonons in specific heat above T_c depends exponentially on temperature. (ii) The specific heat has different contributions, and they change differently at T_c . This change must be the effect of a physical function on heat capacity. Therefore, transition temperature is defined by thermal parameters. For LaO_0.9F_0.1FeAs and SmO_0.87F_0.13FeAs, a transition point was evaluated at 22.11 and 26.32?K, respectively. This is in close agreement with the midpoint transition temperatures obtained from dc resistivity and magnetization experiments, where the modified electronic heat capacity led to the approximate value of the transition point in two samples. The jump, ΔC/γT _c, and the electronic and lattice heat capacity coefficients, γ and β, respectively, were evaluated.     

Band structure of SrFeAsF and CaFeAsF—the base phases of a new group of oxygen-free FeAs superconductors

The results of ab initio FLAPW-GGA calculations of the band structure of the recently synthesized four-component fluorine arsenides SrFeAsF and CaFeAsF, which are the base phases of a new group of oxygen-free FeAs superconductors, are presented. The energy bands, electron state density distributions, effective atomic charges, Fermi surface topology, low-temperature electronic specific heat, and molar Pauli paramagnetic susceptibility have been determined for SrFeAsF and CaFeAsF and are compared to similar data for oxyarsenide LaFeAsO, which is the base phase of the family of the recently discovered high-temperature (T _c ～ 26–56 K) FeAs oxygen-containing superconductors.     

Electronic structure of Ti-doped Sr<Subscript>4</Subscript>Sc<Subscript>2</Subscript>Fe<Subscript>2</Subscript>As<Subscript>2</Subscript>O<Subscript>6</Subscript> as a possible parent phase for the new FeAs superconductors

First principle FLAPW-GGA calculations have been performed with the purpose to understand the effect of Ti-doping on the electronic properties for the newly discovered tetragonal iron arsenide-oxide Sr₄Sc₂Fe₂As₂O₆ (abbreviated as FeAs42226) as the possible parent phase for the new FeAs superconductors. Our results show that the insertion of Ti into Sc sublattice of this five-component iron arsenide-oxide phase leads to the resolute change of electronic structure of FeAs42226. Namely, the insulating oxygen-containing [Sr₄Sc₂O₆] blocks in Ti-doped FeAs42226 became conducting, and this differs essentially from the known picture for all others FeAs superconductors where the conducting [Fe₂As₂] blocks are alternated with insulating blocks. Moreover in sharp contrast with FeAs-based superconductors with Fe 3d bands near the Fermi level, for Ti-doped FeAs42226 in this region the Ti 3d states are dominated, whereas the Fe 3d states are suppressed.     

Band structure of a new (16–18 K) superconductor LiFeAs compared to Li<Subscript>0.5</Subscript>FeAs and LiCoAs

The band structure of a new (16–18 K) superconductor LiFeAs, as a possible first representative of the third (the so-called 111) group of phases, which, along with the groups of four-component 1111 oxyarsenides LnOFeAs and three-component 122 arsenides AFe₂As₂, belong to the family of new high-temperature (26–56 K) FeAs superconductors, has been studied using the ab initio full-potential augmented-plane-wave method and the generalized-gradient approximation. The structure, energy bands, densities of state, Fermi surface, low-temperature electron specific heat γ, and molar Pauli magnetic susceptibility for LiFeAs are discussed and compared to similar data for the systems simulating the hole (Li_0.5FeAs) and electron (LiCoAs) doping of LiFeAs.     

Specific heat in superconductors

Specific heat is a powerful tool to investigate the physical properties of condensed materials. Superconducting state is achieved through the condensation of paired electrons, namely, the Cooper pairs. The condensed Cooper pairs have lower entropy compared with that of electrons in normal metal, thus specific heat is very useful in detecting the low lying quasiparticle excitations of the superconducting condensate and the pairing symmetry of the superconducting gap. In this brief overview, we will give an introduction to the specific heat investigation of the physical properties of superconductors.We show the data obtained in cuprate and iron based superconductors to reveal the pairing symmetry of the order parameter.     

Very high upper critical fields of F-doped Fe-based layered superconductors NdO0.88F0.12FeAs and CeO0.88F0.12FeAs

Using the solid state reaction method, we have synthesized the polycrystalline F-doped NdO_0.88F_0.12FeAs and CeO_0.88F_0.12FeAs with the superconducting transition temperatures at about 48 and 40 K, respectively. To obtain the upper critical field H _c2 of Nd(Ce)O_0.88F_0.12FeAs samples, we measured the electrical resistivity under magnetic field up to 14 T. Based on the Werthamer-Helfand-Hohenberg (WHH) relation together with the H _c2(T) curves in a relatively high field, we estimated that these superconductors have a rather high upper critical field of about 115 T for Nd-based and 107 T for Ce-based samples, indicating the similarities between these ReO_1−x F _x FeAs (Re = rare earth element) superconductors and high T _c cuprate superconductors. Recommended by Prof. Nie Yuxin, Executive Editor of Science in China Series G-Physics, Mechanics & Astronomy Supported by the National Basic Research Program of China (973 Program)(Grant No. 2006CB9213001) and the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 10774181)     

Ni2X2 (X = pnictide,chalcogenide, or B) based superconductors

We review the properties of Ni-based superconductors which contain Ni₂X₂ (X = As, P, Bi, Si, Ge, B) planes, a common structural element found also in the recently discovered FeAs superconductors. Strong evidence for the fully gapped nature of the superconducting state has come from field dependent thermal conductivity results on BaNi₂As₂. Coupled with the lack of magnetism, the majority of evidence suggests that the Ni-based compounds are conventional electron–phonon mediated superconductors. However, the increase in T_c in LaNiAsO with doping is anomalous, and mimics the behavior in LaFeAsO. Furthermore, comparisons of the properties of Ni- and Fe-based systems show many similarities, particularly with regards to structure–property relationships. This suggests a deeper connection between the physics of the FeAs superconductors and the related Ni-based systems which deserves further investigation.     

Quantum monte carlo simulation of FeAs-based superconductors

The results for the calculation of the thermodynamic characteristics of finite two-dimensional FeAs clusters simulating iron-based superconductors have been obtained. The generalized quantum Monte Carlo algorithm is modified and used to calculate the energy and occupation numbers of finite FeAs clusters in the two-orbital model. The results for a cluster of 3 × 3 FeAs cells have been reported.     

Superconductivity at 38 K in the iron arsenide (Ba1-xKx)Fe2As2

The ternary iron arsenide BaFe2As2 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 K in (Ba1-xKx)Fe2As2 with x approximately 0.4. The parent compound BaFe2As2 crystallizes in the tetragonal ThCr2Si2-type structure, which consists of (FeAs);{delta-} iron arsenide layers separated by Ba2+ ions. BaFe2As2 is a poor metal and exhibits a spin density wave anomaly at 140 K. By substituting Ba2+ for K+ ions we have introduced holes in the (FeAs);{-} layers, which suppress the anomaly and induce superconductivity. The T{c} of 38 K in (Ba0.6K0.4)Fe2As2 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 ThCr2Si2-type structure.     

Vortex structure in BaFe2(As1 − x P x )2 single crystals

Single crystals of iron-containing Ba(FeAs)₂ superconductors doped with phosphorus have been studied. The vortex structure has been studied by means of the decoration method. Large domains of the triangular vortex structures have been observed in the phosphorus-doped single crystals of iron-containing superconductors. The effect of doping on pinning in iron-containing superconductors has been discussed.