The discovery of cuprate high TC superconductors has inspired the search for unconventional superconductors in magnetic materials.A successful recipe has been to suppress long−range order in a magnetic parent compound...The discovery of cuprate high TC superconductors has inspired the search for unconventional superconductors in magnetic materials.A successful recipe has been to suppress long−range order in a magnetic parent compound by doping or high pressure to drive the material towards a quantum critical point.We report an exception to this rule in the recently discovered potassium iron selenide.The superconducting composition is identified as the iron vacancy ordered K_(0.83)(2)Fe_(1.64)(1)Se_(2) with T_(C) above 30 K.A novel large moment 3.31μB/Fe antiferromagnetic order that conforms to the tetragonal crystal symmetry has an unprecedentedly high ordering temperature TN≈559 K for a bulk superconductor.Staggeringly polarized electronic density of states is thus suspected,which would stimulate further investigation into superconductivity in a strong spin-exchange field under new circumstances.展开更多
Combining in-depth neutron diffraction and systematic bulk studies,we discover that the√5×√5 Fe vacancy order,with its associated block antiferromagnetic order,is the ground state with varying occupancy ratios ...Combining in-depth neutron diffraction and systematic bulk studies,we discover that the√5×√5 Fe vacancy order,with its associated block antiferromagnetic order,is the ground state with varying occupancy ratios of the iron 16i and vacancy 4d sites across the phase-diagram of K_(x)Fe_(2)-ySe_(2).The orthorhombic order,with one of the four Fe sites vacant,appears only at intermediate temperatures as a competing phase.The material experiences an insulator to metal crossover when the√5×√5 order is highly developed.Superconductivity occurs in such a metallic phase.展开更多
基金by the National Natural Science Foundation of China under Grant Nos 11034012,10834013 and 10974254the National Basic Research Program of China under Grant Nos 2011CBA00112,2010CB923000 and 2009CB009100.
文摘The discovery of cuprate high TC superconductors has inspired the search for unconventional superconductors in magnetic materials.A successful recipe has been to suppress long−range order in a magnetic parent compound by doping or high pressure to drive the material towards a quantum critical point.We report an exception to this rule in the recently discovered potassium iron selenide.The superconducting composition is identified as the iron vacancy ordered K_(0.83)(2)Fe_(1.64)(1)Se_(2) with T_(C) above 30 K.A novel large moment 3.31μB/Fe antiferromagnetic order that conforms to the tetragonal crystal symmetry has an unprecedentedly high ordering temperature TN≈559 K for a bulk superconductor.Staggeringly polarized electronic density of states is thus suspected,which would stimulate further investigation into superconductivity in a strong spin-exchange field under new circumstances.
基金Supported by the National Basic Research Program of China under Grant Nos 2012CB921700,2011CBA00112,2011CBA00103 and 2009CB929104National Natural Science Foundation of China under Grant Nos 11034012,11190024,10974175 and 10934005.
文摘Combining in-depth neutron diffraction and systematic bulk studies,we discover that the√5×√5 Fe vacancy order,with its associated block antiferromagnetic order,is the ground state with varying occupancy ratios of the iron 16i and vacancy 4d sites across the phase-diagram of K_(x)Fe_(2)-ySe_(2).The orthorhombic order,with one of the four Fe sites vacant,appears only at intermediate temperatures as a competing phase.The material experiences an insulator to metal crossover when the√5×√5 order is highly developed.Superconductivity occurs in such a metallic phase.
