We report high pressure structural phase transformation sequence in a layered Iron-based superconducting compound FeSe0.3Te0.7 to 31 GPa at room temperature. The ambient pressure PbO type tetragonal phase (Space Group - P4/nmm) transforms to a monoclinic phase (Space group - P21/m) at a pressure of 7.3 \pm 0.9 GPa. This monoclinic phase is similar to the one observed below 100 K at ambient pressure. On further increase of pressure above 12 GPa, a transformation to an amorphous phase is observed that is completed by 20 GPa. The amorphous phase is found to be stable to the highest pressure of 31 GPa. This structural sequence of tetragonal \to monoclinic \to amorphous phase transformation appears to be a common feature of iron-based layered superconductors under compression. The pressure induced structural phase transformations are likely to play a key role in the superconductivity in these materials at high pressures.
Two boron-rich chalcogenides B12S and B12Se isostructural to α-rhombohedral boron were synthesized by chemical reaction of the elements at high-pressure - high-temperature conditions. The crystal structures and stoichiometries of both compounds were confirmed by Rietveld refinement and elemental analysis. The experimental Raman spectra of B12S and B12Se were investigated for the first time. All observed Raman bands have been attributed to the theoretically calculated phonon modes, and the mode assignment has been performed.
The interplay between superconductivity, magnetism and crystal structure in iron-based superconductors is a topic of great interest amongst the condensed matter physics community as it is thought to be the key to understanding the mechanisms responsible for high temperature superconductivity. Alkali metal doped iron chalcogenide superconductors exhibit several unique characteristics which are not found in other iron-based superconducting materials such as antiferromagnetic ordering at room temperature, the presence of ordered iron vacancies and high resistivity normal state properties. Detaile…
The structure of the pseudo-binary mercury chalcogenide alloy HgSe0.7S0.3 has been studied by means of X-ray and neutron powder diffraction at pressures up to 8.5 GPa. A phase transition from the cubic zinc blende structure to the hexagonal cinnabar structure was observed at P ~ 1 GPa. A phenomenological model of this reconstructive phase transition based on the displacement mechanism is proposed. The analysis of the geometrical relationship between the zinc blende and the cinnabar phases has shown that the possible order parameter for the zinc blende - cinnabar structural transformation is th…
By means of a comprehensive theoretical investigation, we show that external pressure can induce topological phase transitions in IV-VI semiconducting chalcogenides with rock-salt structure. These materials satisfy mirror symmetries that are needed to sustain topologically protected surface states, at variance with time-reversal symmetry responsible for gapless edge states in $\mathcal{Z}_{2}$ topological insulators. The band inversions at high-symmetry points in the Brillouin zone that are related by mirror symmetry, are brought about by an "asymmetric" hybridization between cation and anion …
We have synthesized tetragonal iron selenide and telluride superconductors through solid state reaction at 450deg.C and 550deg.C respectively. These synthesis temperatures have been established by optimization. Electrical resistivity and magnetic susceptibility measurements (4.2-300 K) confirm superconductivity with Tc of around 8.5 K in all selenide samples of nominal composition Fe1+deltaSe (delta=0.02-0.22). However, Scanning Electron Microscopy/ Energy Dispersive Spectroscopy studies clearly indicate that the actual stoichiometric ratio of Fe : Se for all the samples synthesized is around …
Iron-chalcogenide superconductor Fe$_{1.03}$Se$_{0.5}$Te$_{0.5}$ has been investigated under high pressure using synchrotron based x-ray diffraction and mid-infrared reflectance measurements at room temperature. Pressure dependence of the superconducting transition temperature (T$_c$) of the same sample has been determined by temperature-dependent resistance measurements up to 10 GPa. Although the high pressure orthorhombic phase ($\textit{Pbnm}$) starts emerging at 4 GPa, structural transition becomes clearly observable above 10 GPa. A strong correlation is observed between the Fe(Se,Te)$_{4}…
The stability against quench is one of the main issue to be pursued in a superconducting material which should be able to perform at very high levels of current densities. Here we focus on the connection between the critical current $I_c$ and the quenching current $I^*$ associated to the so-called flux-flow instability phenomenon, which sets in as an abrupt transition from the flux flow state to the normal state. To this purpose, we analyze several current-voltage characteristics of three types of iron-based thin films, acquired at different temperature and applied magnetic field values. For t…
By first-principles calculation based on the density functional theory (DFT) with the modified Becke-Johnson local density approximation plus Hubbard U (MBJLDA+U), we studied the band structures of the Yb chalcogenides YbO and YbS under ambient and high pressures. It was revealed that both YbO and YbS have a trivial band topology under ambient pressure, and a nontrivial band topology under high pressure. The topological phase transition is reduced by the pressure-driven single-band inversion between 5d- and 4f -orbitals at the time-reversal invariant momentum (TRIM) point X. A bulk Dirac cone …
Coexistence of phases, characterized by different electronic degrees of freedom, commonly occurs in layered superconductors. Among them, alkaline intercalated chalcogenides are model systems showing microscale coexistence of paramagnetic (PAR) and antiferromagnetic (AFM) phases, however, temporal behavior of different phases is still unknown. Here, we report the first visualization of the atomic motion in the granular phase of K$_{x}$Fe$_{2-y}$Se$_2$ using X-ray photon correlation spectroscopy. Unlike the PAR phase, the AFM texture reveals an intermittent dynamics with avalanches as in martens…
The discovery of superconductivity in alkali-ammonia co-intercalated FeSe has generated intensive interest because of their highest Tc (~ 45 K) among iron-chalcogenide superconductors with bulk form. Here, we report the phase diagrams of two series of Li/Na-ammonia co-intercalated FeSe1-zTez. When superconductivity is suppressed by Te doping, the magnetic ordering states are emergent. Moreover, a novel phase Lix(NH3)yFe2-δTe2 with possible antiferromagnetism is discovered. This strongly indicates the intimate relation between superconductivity and magnetism in these materials, like in other ir…
The response of the worldwide scientific community to the discovery in 2008 of superconductivity at Tc = 26 K in the Fe-based compound LaFeAsO_{1-x}F_x has been very enthusiastic. In short order, other Fe-based superconductors with the same or related crystal structures were discovered with Tc up to 56 K. Many experiments were carried out and theories formulated to try to understand the basic properties of these new materials and the mechanism for Tc. In this selective critical review of the experimental literature, we distill some of this extensive body of work, and discuss relationships betw…
An SDW antiferromagnetic (SDW-AF) low temperature phase transition is generally observe and the AF spin fluctuations are considered to play an important role for the superconductivity paring mechanism in FeAs superconductors. However, a similar magnetic phase transition is not observed in FeSe superconductors, which has caused considerable discussion. We report on the intrinsic electronic states of FeSe as elucidated by transport measurements under magnetic fields using a high quality single crystal. A mobility spectrum analysis, an ab initio method that does not make assumptions on the transp…
We perform density functional calculations of the equilibrium 57Fe/54Fe ratios for ferrous iron dissolved in periclase and MgSiO3 perovskite at the pressures and temperatures of the Earth's mantle. Pressure increases the partitioning of 57Fe into both phases by a factor of three from the Earth's surface to the core-mantle boundary. In ferropericlase, a large contribution to this increase comes from the electronic transition from high-spin to low-spin iron. Our calculations demonstrate that pressure-induced fractionation can play a major role in determining planetary iron-isotope composition.
We report pressure-dependent reflection and transmission measurements on ZnCr$_2$Se$_4$, HgCr$_2$S$_4$, and CdCr$_2$O$_4$ single crystals at room temperature over a broad spectral range 200-24000 cm$^{-1}$. The pressure dependence of the phonon modes and the high-frequency electronic excitations indicates that all three compounds undergo a pressure-induced structural phase transition with the critical pressure 15 GPa, 12 GPa, and 10 GPa for CdCr$_2$O$_4$, HgCr$_2$S$_4$, and ZnCr$_2$Se$_4$, respectively. The eigenfrequencies of the electronic transitions are very close to the expected values fo…
Using a first principles based, magnetic tight-binding total energy model, the magnetization energy and moments are computed for various ordered spin configurations in the high pressure polymorphs of iron (fcc, or $γ$-Fe, and hcp, or $ε$-Fe), as well ferromagnetic bcc iron ($α$-Fe). For hcp, a non-collinear, antiferromagnetic, spin configuration that minimizes unfavorable ferromagnetic nearest neighbor ordering is the lowest energy state and is more stable than non-magnetic $ε$ iron up to about 75 GPa. Accounting for non-collinear magnetism yields better agreement with the experimental equatio…
We investigate the elastic and isotropic aggregate properties of ferromagnetic bcc iron as a function of temperature and pressure by computing the Helmholtz free energies for the volume-conserving strained structures using the first-principles linear response linear-muffin-tin-orbital method and the generalized-gradient approximation. We include the electronic excitation contributions to the free energy from the band structures, and phonon contributions from quasi-harmonic lattice dynamics. We make detailed comparisons between our calculated elastic moduli and their temperature and pressure de…
We investigate the temperature and pressure dependences of the electrical resistivity for bcc and hcp Fe using the low-order variational approximation and theoretical transport spectral functions calculated from first principles linear response linear-muffin-tin-orbital method in the generalized-gradient approximation. The calculated values are in close agreement with available experimental data, and show strong increase with temperature and decrease with pressure. We also discuss the behavior of the electrical resistivity for the bcc -> hcp phase transition.
Thermal conductivity of the most abundant element in the planetary core, Iron (Fe) is measured up to Earth's outer core pressure $\sim 120$ GPa. The measurements are carried out using the laser heated diamond anvil cell facility, where the absorbed power by Fe metal foil is calculated using thermodynamical equation. The thermal conductivity of $γ-Fe$ linearly increases up to a maximum experimental pressure 40 GPa. Thermal conductivity of $ε-Fe$ measured by us shows a saturated value $\sim$ 52 ($\pm$ 5) $Wm^{-1}K^{-1}$ in the pressure range 77 - 120 GPa. At different pressures temperature depen…
Drastic field-induced resistivity upturns as signatures of unconventional magnetism in superconducting iron chalcogenides
University of Oxford（牛津大学）；Max Planck Institute for Solid State Research（马克斯·普朗克固体研究所）；Institute of High-Pressure Physics, Polish Academy of Sciences（波兰科学院高压物理研究所）；Institute for Quantum Materials and Technologies, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology（卡尔斯鲁厄理工学院量子材料与技术研究所）
The Earth's core consists of a solid ball with a radius of 1221 Km, surrounded by a liquid shell which extends up to 3480 Km from the centre of the planet, roughly half way towards the surface (the mean radius of the Earth is 6373 km). The main constituent of the core is iron, and therefore the melting temperature of iron at the pressure encountered at the boundary between the solid and the liquid (the ICB) provides an estimate of the temperature of the core. Here I report the melting temperature of Fe at pressures near that of the ICB, obtained with first principles techniques based on densit…
We report a molecular dynamics study of transport coefficients and infinite frequency shear mod- ulus of liquid iron at high temperatures and high pressures. We observe a simultaneous rise of both shear viscosity and diffusion coefficient along the melting line and estimate if liquid iron can vitrify under Earth-core conditions. We show that in frames of the model studied in our work iron demonstrates a moderate increase of viscosity along the melting line. It is also demonstrated that in the limit of high temperatures and high pressures the liquid iron behaves similar to the soft spheres syst…
The recent discovery of superconductivity in BaFe$_2$S$_3$ [Takahashi {\it et al.}, Nat. Mater. {\bf 14}, 1008 (2015)] has stimulated considerable interest in 123-type iron chalcogenides. This material is the first reported iron-based two-leg ladder superconductor, as opposed to the prevailing two-dimensional layered structures of the iron superconductors family. Once the hydrostatic pressure exceeds $11$ GPa, BaFe$_2$S$_3$ changes from a semiconductor to a superconductor below $24$~K. Although previous calculations correctly explained its ground state magnetic state and electronic structure, …
We investigate the binary phase diagram of helium and iron using first-principles calculations. We find that helium, which is a noble gas and inert at ambient conditions, forms stable crystalline compounds with iron at terapascal pressures. A FeHe compound becomes stable above 4 TPa, and a FeHe$_2$ compound above 12 TPa. Melting is investigated using molecular dynamics simulations, and a superionic phase with sublattice melting of the helium atoms is predicted. We discuss the implications of our predicted helium-iron phase diagram for interiors of giant (exo)planets and white dwarf stars.
Since the discovery of high-temperature superconductivity in the thin-film FeSe/SrTiO$_3$ system, iron selenide and its derivates have been intensively scrutinized. Using ab initio density functional theory calculations we review the electronic structures that could be realized in iron-selenide if the structural parameters could be tuned at liberty. We calculate the momentum-dependence of the susceptibility and investigate the symmetry of electron pairing within the random phase approximation. Both the susceptibility and the symmetry of electron pairing depend on the structural parameters in a…
High-pressure magnetic transition in iron observed via diamond quantum sensing
The University of Tokyo（东京大学）；Graduate School of Engineering Science, The University of Osaka（大阪大学工程科学研究科）；Geodynamics Research Center, Ehime University（爱媛大学地球动力学研究中心）；Institute for Physics of Intelligence, The University of Tokyo（东京大学物理智能研究所）；Trans-scale Quantum Science Institute, The University of Tokyo（东京大学跨尺度量子科学研究所）
Being a lithophile element at ambient pressure, magnesium is long believed to be immiscible with iron. A recent study by Gao et al. [1] showed that pressure turns magnesium into a siderophile element and can produce unconventional Fe-Mg compounds. Here, we extend the investigation to exoplanetary pressure conditions using an adaptive genetic algorithm-based variable-composition structural prediction approach. We identify several Fe-Mg phases up to 3 TPa. Our cluster alignment analysis reveals that most of the predicted Fe-Mg compounds prefer a BCC packing motif at terapascal pressures. This st…
We have studied the pressure effect on electronic structures and magnetic orders of ternary iron selenide K$_{0.8}$Fe$_{1.6}$Se$_2$ by the first-principles electronic structure calculations. At low pressure, the compound is in the blocked checkerboard antiferromagnetic (AFM) semiconducting phase, as observed by the neutron scatting measurements. Applying pressure induces two phase transitions, first from the blocked checkerboard AFM semiconducting phase to a collinear AFM metallic phase around 12 GPa, and then to a non-magnetic metallic phase around 25 GPa, respectively. Our results help to cl…
The coexistence pressure of two phases is a well-defined point at fixed temperature. In experiment, however, due to non-hydrostatic stresses and a stress-dependent potential energy barrier, different measurements yield different ranges of pressure with a hysteresis. Accounting for these effects, we propose an inequality for comparison of the theoretical value to a plurality of measured intervals. We revisit decades of pressure experiments on the bcc - hcp transformations in iron, which are sensitive to non-hydrostatic conditions and sample size. From electronic-structure calculations, we find …
