The effects of post-growth annealing on the structural and magnetic properties of BaFe2As2

A high resolution dilatometer using optical fiber interferometer

We introduce a high-performance differential dilatometer based on an all-fiber Michelson interferometer at cryogenic temperature with 10-10 resolution in δL/L. It resolves the linear thermal expansion coefficient by measuring the oscillating changes of sample thickness and sample temperature with the interferometer and in situ thermometer, respectively. By measuring the linear thermal expansion coefficient α near the antiferromagnetic transition region of BaFe2As2 as a demonstration, we show that our dilatometer is able to measure thin samples with sub-pm-level length change resolution and mK-level temperature resolution. Despite the residual background thermal expansion of a few nm/K in the measurement results, our new dilatometer is still a powerful tool for the study of phase transition in condensed matter physics, especially has significant advantages in fragile materials with sub-100 μm thickness and being integrated with multiple synchronous measurements and tuning thanks to its extremely high resolution and contactless nature. The prototype design of this setup can be further improved in many aspects for specific applications.

Ferroelasticity, anelasticity and magnetoelastic relaxation in Co-doped iron pnictide: Ba(Fe0.957Co0.043)2As2

The hypothesis that strain has a permeating influence on ferroelastic, magnetic and superconducting transitions in 122 iron pnictides has been tested by investigating variations of the elastic and anelastic properties of a single crystal of Ba(Fe_0.957Co_0.043)₂As₂ by resonant ultrasound spectroscopy as a function of temperature and externally applied magnetic field. Non-linear softening and stiffening of C ₆₆ in the stability fields of both the tetragonal and orthorhombic structures has been found to conform quantitatively to the Landau expansion for a pseudoproper ferroelastic transition which is second order in character. The only exception is that the transition occurs at a temperature (T _S  ≈  69 K) ~10 K above the temperature at which C ₆₆ would extrapolate to zero ([Formula: see text]  ≈  59 K). An absence of anomalies associated with antiferromagnetic ordering below T _N  ≈  60 K implies that coupling of the magnetic order parameter with shear strain is weak. It is concluded that linear-quadratic coupling between the structural/electronic and antiferromagnetic order parameters is suppressed due to the effects of local heterogeneous strain fields arising from the substitution of Fe by Co. An acoustic loss peak at ~50-55 K is attributed to the influence of mobile ferroelastic twin walls that become pinned by a thermally activated process involving polaronic defects. Softening of C ₆₆ by up to ~6% below the normal-superconducting transition at T _c  ≈  13 K demonstrates an effective coupling of the shear strain with the order parameter for the superconducting transition which arises indirectly as a consequence of unfavourable coupling of the superconducting order parameter with the ferroelastic order parameter. Ba(Fe_0.957Co_0.043)₂As₂ is representative of 122 pnictides as forming a class of multiferroic superconductors in which elastic strain relaxations underpin almost all aspects of coupling between the structural, magnetic and superconducting order parameters and of dynamic properties of the transformation microstructures they contain.

Surface reconstruction and charge modulation in BaFe2As2 superconducting film

Whether or not epitaxially grown superconducting films have the same bulk-like superconducting properties is an important concern. We report the structure and the electronic properties of epitaxially grown Ba(Fe_1-x Co _x )₂As₂ films using scanning tunneling microscopy and scanning tunneling spectroscopy (STS). This film showed a different surface structure, [Formula: see text]R45° reconstruction, from those of as-cleaved surfaces from bulk crystals. The electronic structure of the grown film is different from that in bulk, and it is notable that the film exhibits the same superconducting transport properties. We found that the superconducting gap at the surface is screened at the Ba layer surface in STS measurements, and the charge density wave was observed at the surface in sample in the superconducting state.

Improving superconductivity in BaFe2As2-based crystals by cobalt clustering and electronic uniformity

Quantum materials such as antiferromagnets or superconductors are complex in that chemical, electronic, and spin phenomena at atomic scales can manifest in their collective properties. Although there are some clues for designing such materials, they remain mainly unpredictable. In this work, we find that enhancement of transition temperatures in BaFe₂As₂-based crystals are caused by removing local-lattice strain and electronic-structure disorder by thermal annealing. While annealing improves Néel-ordering temperature in BaFe₂As₂ crystal (T_N = 132 K to 136 K) by improving in-plane electronic defects and reducing overall a-lattice parameter, it increases superconducting-ordering temperature in optimally cobalt-doped BaFe₂As₂ crystal (T_c = 23 to 25 K) by precipitating-out the cobalt dopants and giving larger overall a-lattice parameter. While annealing improves local chemical and electronic uniformity resulting in higher T_N in the parent, it promotes nanoscale phase separation in the superconductor resulting in lower disparity and strong superconducting band gaps in the dominant crystal regions, which lead to both higher overall T_c and critical-current-density, J_c.