NMR Evidence for Universal Pseudogap Behavior in Quasi-Two-Dimensional FeSe-Based Superconductors

Recently,by intercalating organic ions into bulk FeSe superconductors,two kinds of layered FeSe-based superconductors[(TBA)xFeSe and(CTA)xFeSe]with superconducting transition temperatures(Tc)above 40 K have been discovered.Due to the large interlayer distance(~15A),these new layered superconductors have a large resistivity anisotropy analogous to bismuth-based cuprate superconductors.Moreover,remarkable pseudogap behavior well above Tcis revealed by nuclear magnetic resonance(NMR)measurements on77Se nuclei,suggesting a preformed pairing scenario similar to that of cuprates.Here,we report another new kind of organic-ion-intercalated FeSe superconductor,(PY)xFeSe,with a reduced interlayer distance(~10A)compared to(TBA)xFeSe and(CTA)xFeSe.By performing77Se NMR and transport measurements,we observe a similar pseudogap behavior well above Tcof~40 K and a large resistivity anisotropy of~10~4 in(PY)xFeSe.All these facts strongly support a universal pseudogap behavior in these layered FeSe-based superconductors with quasi-two-dimensional electronic structures.

Microstructures and Hardness Properties for β-Phase Ti-24Nb-4Zr-7.9Sn Alloy Fabricated by Electron Beam Melting

Atomized, pre-alloyed Ti-24Nb-4Zr-7.9Sn （wt%） powder was used to fabricate solid, prototype components by electron beam melting （EBM）. Vickers microindentation hardness values were observed to average 2 GPa for the precursor powder and 2.5 GPa for the solid, EBM-fabricated products. The powder and solid product microstructures were examined by optical and electron microscopy. X-ray diffraction analyses showed that they had bcc β-phase microstructure. However, it was found by transmission electron microscopy that the EBM-fabricated product had plate morphology with space -100-200 nm. Although the corresponding selected area diffraction patterns can be indexed by β-phase plus α＂-martensite with orthorhombic crystal structure, the dark-field analyses failed to observe the α＂-martensite. Such phenomenon was also found in deformed gum metals and explained by stress-induced diffusion scattering due to phonon softening.

Tuning thermal expansion by a continuing atomic rearrangement mechanism in a multifunctional titanium alloy

As to multifunctional titanium alloys with high strength and low elastic modulus, thermal training is crucial to tune their thermal expansion from positive to negative, resulting in a novel linear expansion which is stable in a wide temperature range. Aided by the high-order Hooke's law of elastic solids,a reversible atomic rearrangement mechanism was proposed to explain the novel findings which are unexpected from typical shape memory alloys. To confirm this continuous mechanism, a Ti-Nb based alloy, which possesses a nanoscale spongy microstructure consisting of the interpenetrated Nb-rich and Nb-lean domains produced by spinodal decomposition, was used to trace the crystal structure change by in-situ high energy synchrotron X-ray diffraction analyses. By increasing exposure time, the overlapped diffraction peaks can be separated accurately. The calculated results demonstrate that, in the nanoscale Nb-lean domains, the crystal structure parameters vary linearly with changing temperature along the atomic pathway of the bcc-hcp transition. This linear relationship in a wide temperature range is unusual for first-order martensitic shape memory alloys but is common for Invar alloys with high-order spin transitions. Furthermore, the alloy exhibits smooth DSC curves free of transformation-induced heat peaks observed in shape memory alloys, which is consistent with the proposed mechanism that the reversible transition is of high-order.