Coexistence of superconductivity and magnetism

The discovery of iron-based superconductors has stimulated tremendous research interests in unconventional high-Tc superconductivity.  Among various parent compounds of iron pnictide superconductors, EuFe2As2 stands out due to the presence of both spin density wave of Fe and antiferromagnetic ordering of the localized Eu2+ moments. Superconductivity can be achieved in EuFe2As2 system by substituting As with P or by applying hydrostatic pressure. We have investigated the evolution of structure and magnetic ordering in EuFe2As2 using high-pressure single-crystal neutron-diffraction measurements.

We have shown that the long-range ordered Eu antiferromagnetism and pressure-induced superconductivity coexists in the EuFe2As2-based iron pnictides. This is quite rare since in the P-doped samples, it has been well established that superconductivity and ferromagnetism coexists.

Magnetic  phase diagram for EuFe­As­2 under hydrostatic pressure. The transition  temperatures, TC and TEu, are the superconducting and Eu  antiferromagnetic ordering temperatures, respectively. TS and TSDW  ­­denote structural phase transition and Fe SDW ordering temperatures,  respectively.
Magnetic phase diagram for EuFe­As­2 under hydrostatic pressure. The transition temperatures, TC and TEu, are the superconducting and Eu antiferromagnetic ordering temperatures, respectively. TS and TSDW ­­denote structural phase transition and Fe SDW ordering temperatures, respectively.
Forschungszentrum Jülich

References:

  1. W. T. Jin, Y. Xiao, S. Nandi, S. Price, Y. Su, K. Schmalzl, W. Schmidt, T. Chatterji, A. Thamizhavel, and Th. Brückel, Coexistence of Eu antiferromagnetism and pressure-induced superconductivity in single-crystal EuFe2As2, Phys. Rev. B 100, 014503 (2019) 

Contact:

Dr. Shibabrata Nandi

JCNS-2: Scientific Staff "Lecturer and Private Docent in Physics at RWTH Aachen University"

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Last Modified: 15.06.2022