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We report the discovery of superconductivity on the border of antiferromagnetic order in a quasi-one-dimensional material RbMn6Bi5 via measurements of resistivity and magnetic susceptibility under high pressures. Its phase diagram of temperature versus pressure resembles those of many magnetism-mediated superconducting systems. With increasing pressure, its antiferromagnetic ordering transition with T N = 83 K at ambient pressure is first enhanced moderately and then suppressed completely at a critical pressure of P c ≈ 13 GPa, around which bulk superconductivity emerges and exhibits a dome-like T c(P) with a maximal T c onset ≈ 9.5 K at about 15 GPa. In addition, the superconducting state around P c is characterized by a large upper critical field μ 0 H c2(0) exceeding the Pauli paramagnetic limit, implying a possible unconventional paring mechanism. The present study, together with our recent work on KMn6Bi5 (the maximum T c onset ≈ 9.3 K), makes A Mn6Bi5 (A = alkali metal) a new family of Mn-based superconductors with relatively high T c. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We report the synthesis, crystal structure, and superconductivity of Ti4Ir2O. The title compound crystallizes in an η -carbide type structure of the space group F d 3 ÂŻ m (No. 227), with lattice parameters a = b = c = 11.6194(1) Ă.... The superconducting temperature T c is found to be 5.1â€"5.7 K. Most surprisingly, Ti4Ir2O hosts an upper critical field of 16.45 T, which is far beyond the Pauli paramagnetic limit. Strong coupled superconductivity with evidences for multigap is revealed by the measurements of heat capacity and upper critical field. First-principles calculations suggest that the density of states near the Fermi level originates from the hybridization of Ti-3 d and Ir-5 d orbitals, and the effect of spin-orbit coupling on the Fermi surfaces is prominent. Large values of the Wilson ratio (R W ∼ 3.9), the Kadowakiâ€"Woods ratio [ A / Îł 2 ∼ 9.0 Ă— 10âˆ'6 μΩâ‹...cm/(mJâ‹...molâˆ'1â‹...Kâˆ'1)2], and the Sommerfeld coefficient (Îł = 33.74 mJâ‹...molâˆ'1â‹...Kâˆ'2) all suggest strong electron correlations (similar to heavy fermion systems) in Ti4Ir2O. The violation of Pauli limit is possibly due to a combination of strong-coupled superconductivity and large spin-orbit scattering. With these intriguing behaviors, Ti4Ir2O serves as a candidate for unconventional superconductor. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We develop an experimental tool to investigate the order parameter of superconductors by combining point-contact spectroscopy measurement with high-pressure technique. It is demonstrated for the first time that planar point-contact spectroscopy measurement on noncentrosymmetric superconducting PbTaSe2 single crystals is systematically subjected to hydrostatic pressures up to 12.1 kbar. Under such a high pressure, the normal-state contact resistance is sensitive to the applied pressure, reflecting the underlying variation of contact transparency upon pressures. In a superconducting state, the pressure dependence of the energy gap Δ0 and the critical temperature Tc for gap opening/closing are extracted based on a generalized Blond–Tinkham–Klapwijk model. The gap ratio 2Δ0/kBTc indicates a crossover from weak coupling to strong coupling in electron pairing strength upon pressure for PbTaSe2. Our experimental results show the accessibility and validity of high-pressure point-contact spectroscopy, offering rich information about high-pressure superconductivity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We report superconductivity in a new ternary molybdenum pnictide Rb2Mo3As3, synthesized via the solid state reaction method. Powder x-ray diffraction analysis reveals a hexagonal crystal structure with space group (No. 187), and the refined lattice parameters are a = 10.431(5) Ĺ, c = 4.460(4) Ĺ. SEM images show rod-like grains with good ductility, confirming a quasi-one-dimensional (Q1D) structure. Electrical resistivity and dc magnetic susceptibility characterizations exhibit superconductivity with an onset of Tc = 10.5 K. The upper critical field of Rb2Mo3As3 is estimated to be 28.2T at zero temperature, providing an evidence of possible unconventional superconductivity. Our recent discovery of MoAs-based superconductors above 10 K provides a unique platform for the study of exotic superconductivity in 4d electron systems with Q1D crystal structures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We report a comprehensive high-pressure study on the monoclinic TlFeSe2 single crystal, which is an antiferromagnetic insulator with quasi-one-dimensional crystal structure at ambient pressure. It is found that TlFeSe2 undergoes a pressure-induced structural transformation from the monoclinic phase to an orthorhombic structure above Pc ≈ 13 GPa, accompanied with a large volume collapse of ΔV/V0 = 8.3%. In the low-pressure monoclinic phase, the insulating state is easily metallized at pressures above 2 GPa; while possible superconductivity with K is found to emerge above 30 GPa in the high-pressure phase. Such a great tunability of TlFeSe2 under pressure indicates that the ternary AFeSe2 system (A = Tl, K, Cs, Rb) should be taken as an important platform for explorations of interesting phenomena such as insulator-metal transition, dimensionality crossover, and superconductivity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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 KxFe2-ySe2. 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. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

High resolution angle-resolved photoemission measurements have been carried out to study the superconducting gap in the (Ba0.6K0.4)Fe2As2 superconductor with Te = 35 K. Two hole-like Fermi surface sheets around the I' point exhibit different superconducting gaps. The inner Fermi surface sheet shows larger (10 [?] 12 meV) and slightly momentum-dependent gap while the outer one has smaller (7 [?] 8meV) and nearly isotropic gap. The lack of gap node in both Fermi surface sheets favours s-wave superconducting gap symmetry. Superconducting gap opening is also observed at the M(p, p) point. The two Fermi surface spots near the M point are gapped below Te but the gap persists above Te. The rich and detailed superconducting gap information will provide key insights and constraints in understanding pairing mechanism in the iron-based superconductors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

High resolution photoemission measurements are carried out on non-superconducting LaFeAsO parent compound and various superconducting RFeAs(O1-xFx) (R=La, Ce and Pr) compounds. It is found that the parent LaFeAsO compound shows a metallic character. By extensive measurements, several common features are identified in the electronic structure of these Fe-based compounds: (1) 0.2 eV feature in the valence band, (2) a universal 13-16 meV feature, (3) near Ef spectral weight suppression with decreasing temperature. These universal features can provide important information about band structure, superconducting gap and pseudogap in these Fe-based materials. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

High resolution photoemission measurements are carried out on non-superconducting SmOFeAs parent compound and superconducting SmFeAs(O1-xFx) (x = 0.12, and 0.15) compounds. The momentum-integrated spectra exhibit a clear Fermi cutoff that shows little leading-edge shift in the superconducting state. A robust feature at 13meV is identified in all these samples. Spectral weight suppression near Ef with decreasing temperature is observed in both undoped and doped samples that points to a possible existence of a pseudogap in these Fe-based compounds. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Different element substitution effects in transition metal oxypnictide Re(O1-xFx)TAs, with Re = La, Ce, Nd, Eu, Gd, Tm, T = Fe, Ni, Ru, are studied. Similar to the La- or Ce-based systems, we find that the pure NdOFeAs shows a strong resistivity anomaly near 145 K, which is ascribed to the spin-density-wave instability. Electron doping by F increases Tc to about 50 K. While in the case of Gd, Tc is reduced below 10 K. The tetragonal ZrCuSiAs-type structure could not be formed for Eu or Tm substitution in our preparing process. For the Ni-based case, although both pure and F-doped LaONiAs are superconducting, no superconductivity is found when La is replaced by Ce in both the cases, instead a ferromagnetic ordering transition is likely to form at low temperature in the undoped sample. We also synthesize LaO1-xFxRuAs and CeO1-xFxRuAs compounds. The metallic behaviour is observed down to 4K. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A series of layered (Sr1-xKx)Fe2As2 compounds with nominal x = 0-0.40 are synthesized by solid state reaction method. Similar to other parent compounds of iron-based pnictide superconductors, pure SrFe2As2 shows a strong resistivity anomaly near 210 K, which was ascribed to the spin-density-wave instability. The anomaly temperature is much higher than those observed in LaOFeAs and BaFe2As2, the two prototype parent compounds with ZrCuSiAs- and ThCr2Si2-type structures. K-doping strongly suppresses this anomaly and induces superconductivity. Like in the case of K-doped BaFe2As2, sharp superconducting transitions at Tc [?] 38 K is observed. We perform the Hall coefficient measurement, and confirm that the dominant carriers are hole-type. The carrier density is enhanced by a factor of 3 in comparison to F-doped LaOFeAs superconductor. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Single crystals of RSeTe2 (R = La, Ce, Pr, Nd) are synthesized using LiCl/RbCl flux. Transport and magnetic properties in the directions parallel and perpendicular to the a–c plane are investigated. We find that the resistivity anisotropy ρ⊥/ρ‖ lies in the range 486–615 for different compounds at 2 K, indicating the highly two-dimensional character. In both the orientations, the charge-density-wave transitions start near TCDW = 284(3) K, 316(3) K, 359(3) K for NdSeTe2, PrSeTe2, CeSeTe2, respectively, with a considerable increase in dc resistivity. While for LaSeTe2, no obvious resistivity anomaly is observed up to 380 K. The value of TCDW increases monotonically with the increasing lattice parameters. Below TCDW, slight anomalies can be observed in NdSeTe2, PrSeTe2 and CeSeTe2 with onset temperature at 193(3) K, 161(3) K, 108(3) K, respectively, decreasing as lattice parameters increase. Magnetic susceptibility measurements show that the valence state of rare earth ions are trivalence in these compounds. Antiferromagnetic-type magnetic order is formed in CeSeTe2 at 2.1 K, while no magnetic transition is observed in PrSeTe2 and NdSeTe2 down to 1.8 K. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We report both 23Na and 75As nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) studies on hole-doped Ca1[?]xNaxFe2As2 superconducting single crystals (x [?] 0.67) with the superconducting temperature Tc = 32 K. Singlet superconductivity is suggested by a sharp drop of the Knight shift 75K below Tc. The spin-lattice relaxation rate 1/T1 does not show the Slichter--Hebel coherence peak, which suggests an unconventional pairing. The penetration depth is estimated to be 0.24 um at temperature T = 2 K. Here 1/75T1T shows an anisotropic behavior and a prominent low-temperature upturn, with 75T1 denoting the 75As spin-lattice relaxation time and T the temperature, which indicates strong low-energy antiferromagnetic spin fluctuations and supports a magnetic origin of superconductivity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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 K0.83(2)Fe1.64(1)Se2 with TC above 30 K. A novel large moment 3.31 uB/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. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We report a comprehensive high-pressure study on the monoclinic TlFeSe2 single crystal, which is an antiferromagnetic insulator with quasi-one-dimensional crystal structure at ambient pressure. It is found that TlFeSe2 undergoes a pressure-induced structural transformation from the monoclinic phase to an orthorhombic structure above Pc ≈ 13 GPa, accompanied with a large volume collapse of ΔV/V0 = 8.3%. In the low-pressure monoclinic phase, the insulating state is easily metallized at pressures above 2 GPa; while possible superconductivity with K is found to emerge above 30 GPa in the high-pressure phase. Such a great tunability of TlFeSe2 under pressure indicates that the ternary AFeSe2 system (A = Tl, K, Cs, Rb) should be taken as an important platform for explorations of interesting phenomena such as insulator-metal transition, dimensionality crossover, and superconductivity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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 KxFe2-ySe2. 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. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]