Effects of 4d transition metal Pd doping on the magnetic and superconducting properties of 112-type iron pnictide EuFeAs2

The recently discovered 112-type EuFeAs2 compound that shows complex Eu-spin magnetism provides a new platform to study the interplay between superconductivity (SC) and magnetism in iron pnictide superconductors. In this paper, by substituting Fe with the 4d transition metal Pd, we have successfully synthesized a series of EuFe1-xPdxAs2 (0 ≤ x ≤ 0.08) samples and studied the doping effect on SC and magnetism by means of electrical transport and magnetization measurements. The systematic evolution of the lattice parameters indicates that the Pd atoms have been successfully substituted into the Fe sites. With Pd doping, the Fe-related spin density wave (SDW) transition at TFe m in the parent phase is rapidly suppressed, and SC simultaneously emerges, exhibiting a domelike shape with a maximum onset transition temperature Tonset c of around 18.5 K at x = 0.04. On the other hand, the Eu-related AFM order at TEu m is suppressed very slowly and persists up to x = 0.08, covering the whole SC dome region. Also, the reentrant spin-glass and spin-reorientation transitions below TEu m remain unchanged with Pd doping. All these results indicate that the Eu spins have little effect on SC in EuFe1-xPdxAs2. Finally, based on the resistivity and magnetization data, the T-x phase diagram of EuFe1-xPdxAs2 is constructed and compared with those of 3d transition metals Co/Ni and La doped ones.

Spin polarized density functional theory calculations of the electronic structure and magnetism of the 112 type iron pnictide compound $$\hbox {EuFeAs}_2$$

Using density-functional theory, we investigate the electronic, magnetic, and hyperfine-interaction properties of the 112-type iron-pnictide compound $${\hbox {EuFeAs}}_2$$ EuFeAs 2 , which is isostructural to the high-temperature iron-based superconductor $${\hbox {Ca}}_{1-x}{\hbox {La}}_x{\hbox {FeAs}}_2$$ Ca 1 - x La x FeAs 2 . We show that the band structure of $${\hbox {EuFeAs}}_2$$ EuFeAs 2 is similar to that of the 112-type compounds’ family, with hole-like and electron-like bands at the Brillouin-zone center and corners, respectively. We demonstrate that the bands near the Fermi level originate mainly from the Fe atoms. The presence of a mixture of ionic and covalent bonding is predicted from the charge-density and atom-resolved density-of-states calculations. There is good agreement between the calculated hyperfine-interaction parameters with those obtained from the $$^{57}$$ 57 Fe and $$^{151}$$ 151 Eu Mössbauer measurements. The spatial distribution of atoms in $${\hbox {EuFeAs}}_2$$ EuFeAs 2 leads to an in-plane 2D magnetism. Moreover, ab-initio calculations predict the compound’s magnetic moment and the magnetic moments of each constituent atom. Also, the density of states profile provides insight into the relative magnitude of these moments. Electronic structure calculations and Fermi surface topology reveal various physical and chemical properties of $${\hbox {EuFeAs}}_2$$ EuFeAs 2 . Valence electron density maps indicate the co-existence of a wide range of chemical bonds in this system, and based on structural properties, the transport characteristics are deduced and discussed. A thorough analysis of the atomic structure of $${\hbox {EuFeAs}}_2$$ EuFeAs 2 and its role in the bond formation is presented.

In-plane uniaxial pressure-induced out-of-plane antiferromagnetic moment and critical fluctuations in BaFe2As2

A small in-plane external uniaxial pressure has been widely used as an effective method to acquire single domain iron pnictide BaFe2As2, which exhibits twin-domains without uniaxial strain below the tetragonal-to-orthorhombic structural (nematic) transition temperature Ts. Although it is generally assumed that such a pressure will not affect the intrinsic electronic/magnetic properties of the system, it is known to enhance the antiferromagnetic (AF) ordering temperature TN ( < Ts) and create in-plane resistivity anisotropy above Ts. Here we use neutron polarization analysis to show that such a strain on BaFe2As2 also induces a static or quasi-static out-of-plane (c-axis) AF order and its associated critical spin fluctuations near TN/Ts. Therefore, uniaxial pressure necessary to detwin single crystals of BaFe2As2 actually rotates the easy axis of the collinear AF order near TN/Ts, and such effects due to spin-orbit coupling must be taken into account to unveil the intrinsic electronic/magnetic properties of the system.

A new Majorana platform in an Fe-As bilayer superconductor

Iron-chalcogenide superconductors have emerged as a promising Majorana platform for topological quantum computation. By combining topological band and superconductivity in a single material, they provide significant advantage to realize isolated Majorana zero modes. However, iron-chalcogenide superconductors, especially Fe(Te,Se), suffer from strong inhomogeneity which may hamper their practical application. In addition, some iron-pnictide superconductors have been demonstrated to have topological surface states, yet no Majorana zero mode has been observed inside their vortices, raising a question of universality about this new Majorana platform. In this work, through angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy and scanning tunneling microscopy/spectroscopy measurement, we identify Dirac surface states and Majorana zero modes, respectively, for the first time in an iron-pnictide superconductor, CaKFe4As4. More strikingly, the multiple vortex bound states with integer-quantization sequences can be accurately reproduced by our model calculation, firmly establishing Majorana nature of the zero mode.