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X. F. Wang

Publications and source records attributed to X. F. Wang.

At least 73 records · Page 4Linked to original sources

Surface and bulk electronic structures of LaOFeAs studied by angle resolved photoemission spectroscopy

The electronic structure of LaOFeAs, a parent compound of iron-arsenic superconductors, is studied by angleresolved photoemission spectroscopy. By examining its dependence on photon energy, polarization, sodium dosing and the counting of Fermi surface volume, both the bulk and the surface contributions are identified. We find that a bulk band moves toward high binding energies below structural transition, and shifts smoothly across the spin density wave transition by about 25 meV. Our data suggest the band reconstruction may play a crucial role in the spin density wave transition, and the structural transition is driven by the short range magnetic order. For the surface states, both the LaO-terminated and FeAs-terminated components are revealed. Certain small band shifts are verified for the FeAs-terminated surface states in the spin density wave state, which is a reflection of the bulk electronic structure reconstruction. Moreover, sharp quasiparticle peaks quickly rise at low temperatures, indicating of drastic reduction of the scattering rate. A kink structure in one of the surface band is shown to be possibly related to the electron-phonon interactions.

cond-mat.supr-con↗

Pressure-induced unconventional superconductivity near a quantum critical point in CaFe2As2

75As-zero-field nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) and nuclear quadrupole resonance (NQR) measurements are performed on CaFe2As2 under pressure. At P = 4.7 and 10.8 kbar, the temperature dependences of nuclear-spin-lattice relaxation rate (1/T1) measured in the tetragonal phase show no coherence peak just below Tc(P) and decrease with decreasing temperature. The superconductivity is gapless at P = 4.7 kbar but evolves to that with multiple gaps at P = 10.8 kbar. We find that the superconductivity appears near a quantum critical point under pressures in the range 4.7 kbar < P < 10.8 kbar. Both electron correlation and superconductivity disappear in the collapsed tetragonal phase. A systematic study under pressure indicates that electron correlations play a vital role in forming Cooper pairs in this compound.

cond-mat.supr-con↗

Quantum criticality and nodal superconductivity in the FeAs-based superconductor KFe2As2

The in-plane resistivity $ρ$ and thermal conductivity $κ$ of FeAs-based superconductor KFe$_2$As$_2$ single crystal were measured down to 50 mK. We observe non-Fermi-liquid behavior $ρ(T) \sim T^{1.5}$ at $H_{c_2}$ = 5 T, and the development of a Fermi liquid state with $ρ(T) \sim T^2$ when further increasing field. This suggests a field-induced quantum critical point, occurring at the superconducting upper critical field $H_{c_2}$. In zero field there is a large residual linear term $κ_0/T$, and the field dependence of $κ_0/T$ mimics that in d-wave cuprate superconductors. This indicates that the superconducting gaps in KFe$_2$As$_2$ have nodes, likely d-wave symmetry. Such a nodal superconductivity is attributed to the antiferromagnetic spin fluctuations near the quantum critical point.

cond-mat.supr-con↗

Electronic structure reconstruction: the driving force behind the magnetic and structural transitions in NaFeAs

The electronic structure of NaFeAs is studied with angle resolved photoemission spectroscopy on high quality single crystals. Large portions of the band structure start to shift around the structural transition temperature, and smoothly evolve as the temperature lowers through the spin density wave transition. Moreover, band folding due to magnetic order emerges around structural transition. Our observation provides direct evidence that the structural and magnetic transitions share the same origin, and are both driven by the electronic structure reconstruction in Fe-based superconductors, instead of Fermi surface nesting.

cond-mat.supr-con↗

Electron Transport Properties of Atomic Carbon Nanowires between Graphene Electrodes

Long, stable and free-standing linear atomic carbon wires have been carved out from graphene recently [Meyer et al: Nature (London) 2008, 454, 319; Jin et al: Phys: Rev: Lett: 2009, 102, 205501]. They can be considered as the extremely narrow graphene nanoribbons or extremely thin carbon nanotubes. It might even be possible to make use of high strength and identical (without charity) carbon wires as a transport channel or on-chip interconnects for field-effect transistors. Here we investigate electron transport properties of linear atomic carbon wire-graphene junctions by nonequilibruim Green's function combined with density functional theory. For short wires, linear ballistic transport is observed in odd-numbered wire but destroyed by Peirerls distortion in even-numbered wire. For wires longer than 2.1 nm as fabricated above, however, the ballistic conductance of carbon wire-graphene junctions is remarkably robust against the Peierls distortion, structural imperfections, and hydrogen impurity adsorption of the linear carbon wires except oxygen impurities. As such, the epoxy groups might be the origin of low conductance experimentally observed in carbon wires. Moreover, double atomic carbon wires exhibit negative differential resistance (NDR) effect.

physics.atm-clus↗

High pressure study of BaFe2As2 - role of hydrostaticity and uniaxial stress

We investigate the evolution of the electrical resistivity of BaFe2As2 single crystals with pressure. The samples used were from the same batch grown from self flux and showed properties that were highly reproducible. Samples were pressurised using three different pressure media: pentane-isopentane (in a piston cylinder cell), Daphne oil (in an alumina anvil cell) and steatite (in a Bridgman cell). Each pressure medium has its own intrinsic level of hydrostaticity, which dramatically affects the phase diagram. An increasing uniaxial pressure component in this system quickly reduces spin density wave order and favours the appearance of superconductivity, similar to what is seen in SrFe2As2.

cond-mat.supr-con↗

Thermal conductivity study of KFe$_2$As$_2$ single crystal: clear evidence for unconventional superconducting gap with nodes

The in-plane resistivity $ρ$ and thermal conductivity $κ$ of extremely overdoped KFe$_2$As$_2$ ($T_c$ = 3.0 K) single crystal were studied. It is found that $ρ\sim T^{1.5}$ at low temperature, a typical non-Fermi liquid behavior of electrons scattered by antiferromagnetic spin fluctuations. In zero field, we observed a large residual linear term $κ_0/T$, about one third of the normal-state value. In low magnetic fields, $κ_0/T(H)$ increases very fast. Such a behavior of $κ_0/T$ mimics the d-wave cuprate superconductors, therefore provides clear evidence for nodes in the superconducting gap of KFe$_2$As$_2$. Based on the Fermi surface topology of KFe$_2$As$_2$, it is believed that the dominant intraband pairing via antiferromagnetic spin fluctuations results in the unconventional superconducting gap with nodes.

cond-mat.supr-con↗

Study of Electron Spin Resonance on single crystals $EuFe_{2-x}Co_{x}As_2$

The temperature dependence of electron spin resonance (ESR) was studied in $EuFe_{2-x}Co_{x}As_2 $ (x = 0.0, 0.067, 0.1, 0.2, 0.25, 0.285, 0.35, 0.4 and 0.5). The ESR spectrum of all the samples indicates that the g factor and peak-to-peak linewidth strongly depend on the temperature. Moreover, the peak-to-peak linewidth shows the Korringa behavior, indicating an exchange coupling between the conduction electrons and the $Eu^{2+}$ions. The linewidth, g factor and the integrate ESR intensity show anomalies at the temperature of the spin-density-wave (SDW). The linewidth below the SDW transition does not rely on the temperature. This gives the evidence of the gap opening at the $T_{SDW}$. The slope of the linewidth is closely associated to $T_{SDW}$and $T_C$. This exotic behavior may be related to the nesting of the Fermi surface.

cond-mat.supr-con↗

Magnetism and superconductivity in single crystals $Eu_{1-x}Sr_xFe_{2-y}Co_{y}As_2$

We systematically studied the transport properties of single crystals of $Eu_{1-x}Sr_xFe_{2-y}$Co$_{y}As_2$. Co doping can suppress the spin-density wave (SDW) ordering and induces a superconducting transition, but a resistivity reentrance due to the antiferromagnetic ordering of $Eu^{2+}$ spins is observed, indicating the competition between antiferromagnetism (AFM) and superconductivity. It is striking that the resistivity reentrance can be completely suppressed by external magnetic field (H) because a metamagnetic transition from antiferromagnetism to ferromagnetism for $Eu^{2+}$ spins is induced by magnetic field. Superconductivity without resistivity reentrance shows up by partial substitution of Eu$^{2+}$ with non-magnetic Sr$^{2+}$ to completely destroy the AFM ordering of $Eu^{2+}$ spins. These results suggest that the antiferromagnetism destroys the superconductivity, while the ferromagnetism can coexist with the superconductivity in the iron-based high-$T_c$ superconductors.

cond-mat.supr-con↗

Structure and Physical properties of New layered oxypnictides $Sr_4Sc_2O_6M_2As_2$ (M=Fe and Co)

We have successfully prepared the new layered oxypnictides $Sr_4Sc_2O_6M_2As_2$ (M=Fe and Co). They adopt the tetragonal structure, being the same as that of $Sr_4Sc_2O_6Fe_2P_2$. The lattice constants are a=0.4045 nm and c= 0.5802 nm for M=Fe, and a=0.4045 nm and c=1.5695 nm for M=Co, respectively. Their transport and magnetic properties have been systematically studied. The temperature dependence of Hall coefficient and thermoelectric powder for $Sr_4Sc_2O_6Fe_2As_2$ compound show complicated behavior, similar to that of iron-based parent compounds LnOFeAs and $BaFe_2As_2$. It suggests that the $Sr_4Sc_2O_6Fe_2As_2$ could be considered a new parent compound as iron-based superconductors.

cond-mat.supr-con↗

A Large Iron Isotope Effect in SmFeAsO1-xFx and Ba1-xKxFe2As2

The recent discovery of superconductivity in oxypnictides with the critical temperature (TC) higher than McMillan limit of 39 K (the theoretical maximum predicted by Bardeen-Cooper-Schrieffer (BCS) theory) has generated great excitement. Theoretical calculations indicate that the electron-phonon interaction is not strong enough to give rise to such high transition temperatures, while strong ferromagnetic/antiferromagnetic fluctuations have been proposed to be responsible. However, superconductivity and magnetism in pnictide superconductors show a strong sensitivity to the lattice, suggesting a possibility of unconventional electron-phonon coupling. Here we report the effect of oxygen and iron isotopic mass on Tc and the spin-density wave (SDW) transition temperature (TSDW) in SmFeAsO1-xFx and Ba1-xKxFe2As2 systems. The results show that oxygen isotope effect on TC and TSDW is very little, while the iron isotope exponent alpha=-dlnTc/dlnM is about 0.35, being comparable to 0.5 for the full isotope effect. Surprisingly, the iron isotope exchange shows the same effect on TSDW as TCc These results indicate that electron-phonon interaction plays some role in the superconducting mechanism, but simple electron-phonon coupling mechanism seems to be rather unlikely because a strong magnon-phonon coupling is included. Sorting out the interplay between the lattice and magnetic degrees of freedom is a key challenge for understanding the mechanism of high-TC superconductivity.

cond-mat.supr-con↗

Spin Waves and Magnetic Exchange Interactions in CaFe2As2

Antiferromagnetism is relevant to high temperature (high-Tc) superconductivity because copper oxide and iron arsenide high-Tc superconductors arise from electron- or hole-doping of their antiferromagnetic (AF) ordered parent compounds. There are two broad classes of explanation for the phenomenon of antiferromagnetism: in the local moment picture, appropriate for the insulating copper oxides, AF interactions are well described by a Heisenberg Hamiltonian; while in the itinerant model, suitable for metallic chromium, AF order arises from quasiparticle excitations of a nested Fermi surface. There has been contradictory evidence regarding the microscopic origin of the AF order in iron arsenide materials, with some favoring a localized picture while others supporting an itinerant point of view. More importantly, there has not even been agreement about the simplest effective ground state Hamiltonian necessary to describe the AF order. Here we report inelastic neutron scattering mapping of spin-wave excitations in CaFe2As2, a parent compound of the iron arsenide family of superconductors. We find that the spin waves in the entire Brillouin zone can be described by an effective three-dimensional local moment Heisenberg Hamiltonian, but the large in-plane anisotropy cannot. Therefore, magnetism in the parent compounds of iron arsenide superconductors is neither purely local nor purely itinerant; rather it is a complicated mix of the two.

cond-mat.supr-con↗

Scanning Tunneling Spectroscopy and Vortex Imaging in the Iron-Pnictide Superconductor BaFe$_{1.8}$Co$_{0.2}$As$_2$

We present an atomic resolution scanning tunneling spectroscopy study of superconducting BaFe$_{1.8}$Co$_{0.2}$As$_2$ single crystals in magnetic fields up to $9 \text{Tesla}$. At zero field, a single gap with coherence peaks at $\overlineΔ=6.25 \text{meV}$ is observed in the density of states. At $9 \text{T}$ and $6 \text{T}$, we image a disordered vortex lattice, consistent with isotropic, single flux quantum vortices. Vortex locations are uncorrelated with strong scattering surface impurities, demonstrating bulk pinning. The vortex-induced sub-gap density of states fits an exponential decay from the vortex center, from which we extract a coherence length $ξ=27.6\pm 2.9 \textÅ$, corresponding to an upper critical field $H_{c2}=43 \text{T}$.

cond-mat.supr-con↗

Superconductivity at 56 K in Samarium-doped SrFeAsF

We synthesized the samples Sr$_{1-x}$Sm$_x$FFeAs with ZrCuSiAs-type structure. These samples were characterized by resistivity and susceptibility. It is found that substitution of rare earth metal for alkaline earth metal in this system suppresses the anomaly in resistivity and induces superconductivity. Superconductivity at 56 K in nominal composition Sr$_{0.5}$Sm$_{0.5}$FFeAs is realized, indicating that the superconducting transition temperatures in the iron arsenide fluorides can reach as high as that in oxypnictides with the same structure.

cond-mat.supr-con↗

Anisotropy in the electrical resistivity and susceptibility of superconducting BaFe$_{2}$As$_{2}$ single crystals

Sizable single crystals of $BaFe_2As_2$ have been grown with self-flux method. The crystals are plate-like with c-axis perpendicular to the plane. The size can be as large as 3 x 5 x 0.2 $mm^3$. The resistivity anisotropy ($ρ_c/ρ_{ab}$) is as large as about 150, and independent of temperature. The transport in ab plane and along c-axis direction shares the same scattering mechanism. In contrast to the magnetic behavior of polycrystalline samples, no Curie-Weiss behavior are observed, a temperature linear dependent susceptibility occurs above spin-density-wave (SDW) transition. The susceptibility behavior is very similar to that of antiferromagnetic SDW chromium. Magnetic behavior of single crystal definitely gives evidence for existence of local moment except for the contribution to susceptibility from itinerant electrons. A resistivity minimum strongly dependent on magnetic field is observed. A log(1/T) divergency, similar to that of the underdoped cuprates, happens at low temperature. Here we first present intrinsic transport and magnetic properties, and their anisotropy from high quality single crystal.

cond-mat.supr-con↗

Abnormal T-linear susceptibility and Phase diagram of BaFe$_{2-x}$Co$_x$As$_2$ single crystals

We study systematically transport, susceptibility and heat capacity for BaFe$_{2-x}$Co$_x$As$_2$ single crystals. In the underdoped region, spin density wave (SDW) transition is observed in both resistivity and susceptibility. The magnetic susceptibility shows unusual T-linear dependence above SDW transition up to 700 K. With Co doping, SDW ordering is gradually suppressed and superconductivity emerges with a dome-like shape. Electrical transport, specific heat and magnetic susceptibility indicate that SDW and superconductivity coexist in the sample BaFe$_{2-x}$Co$_x$As$_2$ around x = 0.17, being similar with (Ba,K)Fe$_2$As$_2$. When x$>$0.34, the superconductivity completely disappears. A crossover from non-Fermi-liquid state to Fermi-liquid state is observed with increasing Co doping. A detailed electronic phase diagram about evolution from SDW to superconducting state is given.

cond-mat.supr-con↗

Transport properties and superconductivity in K$_{1-x}$Ln$_{x}$Fe$_2$As$_2$ (Ln=Sm, Nd and La) system

We prepared the samples K$_{1-x}$Ln$_{x}$Fe$_2$As$_2$ (Ln=Sm, Nd and La) with ThCr$_2$Si$_2$-type structure. These samples were characterized by X-ray diffraction, resistivity, susceptibility and thermoelectric power (TEP). Substitution of Ln (Ln=La, Nd and Sm) for K in K$_{1-x}$Ln$_{x}$Fe$_2$As$_2$ system raises the superconducting transition temperature to 34-36 K. The TEP measurements indicate that the TEP of K$_{1-x}$Ln$_{x}$Fe$_2$As$_2$ is positive, being similar to the case of the Ba$_{1-x}$K$_{x}$Fe$_2$As$_2$ system with p-type carrier. In the K$_{1-x}$Ln$_{x}$Fe$_2$As$_2$ system, the superconducting $KFe_2As_2$ with $T_c\sim 3$ K is the parent compound, and no structural and spin-density wave instabilities exist in this system.

cond-mat.supr-con↗