Electronic structure and spatial inhomogeneity of iron-based superconductor FeS

Iron-based superconductor family FeX(X=S,Se,Te)has been one of the research foci in physics and material science due to their record-breaking superconducting temperature(FeSe film)and rich physical phenomena.Recently,FeS,the least studied Fe X compound(due to the difficulty in synthesizing high quality macroscopic crystals)attracted much attention because of its puzzling superconducting pairing symmetry.In this work,combining scanning tunneling microscopy and angle resolved photoemission spectroscopy(ARPES)with sub-micron spatial resolution,we investigate the intrinsic electronic structures of superconducting FeS from individual single crystalline domains.Unlike FeTe or FeSe,FeS remains identical tetragonal structure from room temperature down to 5 K,and the band structures observed can be well reproduced by our ab-initio calculations.Remarkably,mixed with the 1×1 tetragonal metallic phase,we also observe the coexistence of √5×√5 reconstructed insulating phase in the crystal,which not only helps explain the unusual properties of FeS,but also demonstrates the importance of using spatially resolved experimental tools in the study of this compound.

Contactless Monitoring of the Diameter-Dependent Conductivity of GaAs Nanowires

Contactless monitoring with photoelectron microspectroscopy of the surface potential along individual nano-structures,created by the X-ray nanoprobe,opens exciting possibilities to examine quantitatively size-and surface-chemistry-effects on the electrical transport of semiconductor nanowires(NWs).Implementing this novel approach-which combines surface chemical microanalysis with conductivity measurements-we explored the dependence of the electrical properties of undoped GaAs NWs on the NW width,temperature and surface chemistry.By following the evolution of the Ga 3d and As 3d core level spectra,we measured the position-dependent surface potential along the GaAs NWs as a function of NW diameter,decreasing from 120 to~20 nm,and correlated the observed decrease of the conductivity with the monotonic reduction in the NW diameter from 120 to~20 nm.Exposure of the GaAs NWs to oxygen ambient leads to a decrease in their conductivity by up to a factor of 10,attributed to the significant decrease in the carrier density associated with the formation of an oxide shell.