Kinetics of polymorphous "gamma"-"alfa" transformation in Fe is studied numerically within a model taking into account both lattice and magnetic degrees of freedom, based on first-principle calculations of the total energy for different magnetic states. It is shown that magnetoelastic phenomena, namely, a strong sensitivity of the potential relief along the Bain deformation path to the magnetic state, are crucial for the picture of the transformation. With the temperature increase, a scenario of the phase transformation evolves from a homogeneous lattice instability at T<Ms (Ms is the temperature of the beginning of the martensitic transformation) to the growth and nucleation of embryos of the new phase at T>Ms. In the latter case, a stage of formation of a tweed-like structure occurs, with a strong short-range order and slow interphase fluctuations.
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…
Local perturbations of crystal and magnetic structure of $γ$-iron near carbon interstitial impurity is investigated by {\it ab initio} electronic structure calculations. It is shown that the carbon impurity creates locally a region of ferromagnetic ordering with substantial tetragonal distortions. Exchange integrals and solution enthalpy are calculated, the latter being in a very good agreement with experimental data. Effect of the local distortions on the carbon-carbon interactions in $γ$-iron is discussed.
We have grown epitaxial films a few atomic layers thick of iron oxides on ruthenium. We characterize the growth by low energy electron microscopy. Using selected area diffraction and intensity vs. voltage spectroscopy, we detect two distinct phases which are assigned to wustite and magnetite. Spin polarized low energy electron microscopy shows magnetic domain patterns in the magnetite phase at room temperature.
Yttrium iron garnet is a complex ferrimagnetic insulator with 20 magnon modes which is used extensively in fundamental experimental studies of magnetisation dynamics. As a transition metal oxide with moderate gap (2.8 eV), yttrium iron garnet requires a careful treatment of electronic correlation. We have applied quasiparticle self-consistent GW to provide a fully ab initio description of the electronic structure and resulting magnetic properties, including the parameterisation of a Heisenberg model for magnetic exchange interactions. Subsequent spin dynamical modelling with quantum statistics…
The evolution of the magnetic moment in iron clusters containing 20 to 400 atoms is investigated using first-principles numerical calculations based on density-functional theory and real-space pseudopotentials. Three families of clusters are studied, characterized by the arrangement of atoms: icosahedral, body-centered cubic centered on an atom site, and body-centered cubic centered on the bridge between two neighboring atoms. We find an overall decrease of magnetic moment as the clusters grow in size towards the bulk limit. Clusters with faceted surfaces are predicted to have magnetic moment …
Laves RFe2 compounds, where R is a rare earth, exhibit technologically relevant properties associated with the interplay between their lattice geometry and magnetism. We apply ab~initio calculations to explore how magnetic properties of Fe in RFe2 systems vary with temperature. We found that the ratio between the orbital magnetic moment m_orb and the spin magnetic moment m_spin increases with increasing temperature for YFe2, GdFe2, TbFe2, DyFe2, and HoFe2. This increase is significant and it should be experimentally observable by means of x-ray magnetic circular dichroism. We conjecture that t…
By applying density functional theory, we find strong evidence for an itinerant nature of magnetism in two families of iron pnictides. Furthermore, by employing dynamical mean field theory with continuous time quantum Monte Carlo as an impurity solver, we observe that the antiferromagnetic metal with small magnetic moment naturally arises out of coupling between unfrustrated and frustrated bands. Our results point to a possible scenario for magnetism in iron pnictides where magnetism originates from a strong instability at the momentum vector ($π$, $π$, $π$) while it is reduced by quantum fluc…
We compute lattice dynamical properties of iron at the bcc-fcc phase transition using dynamical mean-field theory implemented with the frozen-phonon method. Electronic correlations are found to have a strong effect on the lattice stability of paramagnetic iron in the bcc phase. Our results for the structural phase stability and lattice dynamical properties of iron are in good agreement with experiment.
In this report we present systematic magnetic studies of pure iron oxide nanoparticles and gold iron oxide nanocomposite with increasing Au particle size/content. For the magnetic studies of these samples we have measured: (1) zero field cooled (ZFC) and field cooled (FC) magnetization, (2) ac susceptibility, (3) magnetization vs field at various temperatures, (4) thermoremanant magnetization relaxation (TRM) and zero field cooled magnetization relaxation (ZFCM) at fixed temperature for various wait times tw for studying the aging effect, (5) magnetization memory effect and (6) exchange bias a…
The origin of magnetism and superconductivity in iron-based superconductors is still unclear. Here, by investigating the momentum-dependent particle-hole excitations which quantify the tendency of itinerant electrons towards various magnetic states or superconducting phases, we unravel a novel origin to account for the variety of physical properties of iron-based compounds. We show that condensation of particle-hole excitations away from the Fermi surface in momentum space is the underlying mechanism in deciding the magnetic and superconducting properties of iron-based materials. The applicabi…
An accurate prediction of atomic diffusion in Fe alloys is challenging due to thermal magnetic excitations and magnetic transitions. We propose an effcient approach to address these properties via Monte Carlo simulation, using ab-initio based effective interaction models. The temperature evolution of self- and Cu diffusion coeffcients in alpha-iron are successfully predicted, particularly the diffusion acceleration around the Curie point, which requires a quantum treatment of spins. We point out a dominance of magnetic disorder over chemical effects on diffusion in the very dilute systems.
Iron telluride (FeTe), a relative of the iron based high temperature superconductors, displays unusual magnetic order and structural transitions. Here we explore the idea that strong correlations may play an important role in these materials. We argue that the unusual orders observed in FeTe can be understood from a picture of correlated local moments with orbital degeneracy, coupled to a small density of itinerant electrons. A component of the structural transition is attributed to orbital, rather than magnetic ordering, introducing a strongly anisotropic character to the system along the dia…
The magnetic properties of iron (spin and orbital magnetic moments, magnetocrystalline anisotropy energy) in various geometries and dimensionalities are investigated by using a parametrized tight-binding model in an $s$, $p$ and $d$ atomic orbital basis set including spin polarization and the effect of spin-orbit coupling. The validity of this model is well established by comparing the results with those obtained by using an ab-initio code. This model is applied to the study of iron in bulk bcc and fcc phases, $(110)$ and $(001)$ surfaces and to the monatomic wire, at several interatomic dista…
Coincidence Site Lattice (CSL) grain boundaries (GBs) are believed to be low-energy, resistant to intergranular fracture, as well as to hydrogen embrittlement. Nevertheless, the behavior of CSL-GBs are generally confused with their angular deviations. In the current study, the effect of angular deviation from the perfect sigma3 (111) [1-10] GBs in Alpha-iron on the hydrogen diffusion and the susceptibility of the GB to hydrogen embrittlement is investigated through molecular static and dynamics simulations. By utilizing Rice-Wang model it is shown that the ideal GB shows the highest resistance…
The effect of hydrostatic strain and of interstitial hydrogen on the elastic properties of $α$-iron is investigated using \textit{ab initio} density-functional theory calculations. We find that the cubic elastic constants and the polycrystalline elastic moduli to a good approximation decrease linearly with increasing hydrogen concentration. This net strength reduction can be partitioned into a strengthening electronic effect which is overcome by a softening volumetric effect. The calculated hydrogen-dependent elastic constants are used to determine the polycrystalline elastic moduli and anisot…
The effects of magnetism on high pressure properties of transition metals and transition metal compounds can be quite important. In the case of Fe, magnetism is responsible for stability of the body-centered cubic (bcc) phase at ambient conditions, and the large thermal expansivity in face-centered cubic (fcc) iron, and also has large effects on the equation of state and elasticity of hexagonal close-packed (hcp) iron. In transition metal oxides, local magnetic moments are responsible for their insulating behavior. LDA+U results are presented for CoO and FeO, and predictions are made for high …
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…
We compute the equilibrium crystal structure and phase stability of iron at the alpha(bcc)-gamma(fcc) phase transition as a function of temperature, by employing a combination of ab initio methods for calculating electronic band structures and dynamical mean-field theory. The magnetic correlation energy is found to be an essential driving force behind the alpha-gamma structural phase transition in paramagnetic iron.
Hydrogen atoms absorbed by metals in the hydrogen-containing environments can lead to the premature fracture of the metal components used in load-bearing conditions. Since metals used in practice are mostly polycrystalline, grain boundaries (GBs) can play an important role in hydrogen embrittlement of metals. Here we show that the reaction of GB with lattice dislocations is a key component in hydrogen embrittlement mechanism for polycrystalline metals. We use atomistic modeling methods to investigate the mechanical response of GBs in alpha-iron with various hydrogen concentrations. Analysis in…
The calculated effects of interstitial hydrogen on the elastic properties of alpha-iron from our earlier work are used to describe the H interactions with homogeneous strain fields using ab initio methods. In particular we calculate the H solublility in Fe subject to hydrostatic, uniaxial, and shear strain. For comparison, these interactions are parametrised successfully using a simple model with parameters entirely derived from ab initio methods. The results are used to predict the solubility of H in spatially-varying elastic strain fields, representative of realistic dislocations outside the…
ThCr2Si2-type phosphide ACo2P2 (A=Rare earth elements) has the same structure as iron arsenides, but their magnetic behaviors are quite distinct. In this paper, we for the first time grew a series of La1-xCexCo2P2 single crystals (x=0.0 to1.0), and made structural and magnetic characterizations. This allows us to carry out a careful investigation on the evolution of magnetism with cerium content and build a magnetic phase diagram. We found that the introduction of cerium induces a rapid decrease of c-axis and a change from ferromagnetic (FM) to antiferromagnetic (AFM) states. By employing firs…
Certain two-dimensional (2D) materials exhibit intriguing properties such as valley polarization, ferroelectricity, superconductivity and charge-density waves. Many of these materials can be manually assembled into atomic-scale multilayer devices under ambient conditions, owing to their exceptional chemical stability. Efforts have been made to add a magnetic degree of freedom to these 2D materials via defects, but only local magnetism has been achieved. Only with the recent discoveries of 2D materials supporting intrinsic ferromagnetism have stacked spintronic devices become realistic. Assembl…
Using first-principles calculations, in conjunction with Ising magnetism, we undertake a theoretical study to elucidate the origin of the experimentally observed Invar effects in disordered fcc iron-based ferromagnets. First, we show that our theory can account for the Invar effects in iron-nickel alloys, the anomalies being driven by the magnetic contributions to the average free energies. Second, we present evidence indicating that the relationship between thermal expansion and magnetism is essentially the same in all the studied alloys, including those which display the Invar effect and tho…
Recent experimental data on the diffusion coefficient of carbon in alpha-iron below liquid nitrogen temperature (LNT) question the classical approach to the observed temperature dependence. As the temperature is lowered below LNT, the diffusion constant tends to a nearly temperature-independent value rather than continuing its activated trend. The low temperature branch is apparently characteristic of a quantum mechanical process dominated by tunneling in ground state. Concommitantly, we apply an occurrence probability approach to describing the overall temperature dependence as a single conti…
We employ state-of-the-art ab initio simulations within the dynamical mean-field theory to study three likely phases of iron (hexogonal close-packed, hcp, face centered cubic, fcc, and body centered cubic, bcc) at the Earth's core conditions. We demonstrate that the correction to the electronic free energy due to correlations can be significant for the relative stability of the phases. The strongest effect is observed in bcc Fe, which shows a non-Fermi liquid behaviour, and where a Curie-Weiss behaviour of the uniform susceptbility hints at a local magnetic moment still existing at 5800 K and …
The exceptional magnetic, optical and phononic properties of Yttrium Iron Garnet (YIG) make it unique for spin-wave based and photonic applications. Yet, nanostructuring crystalline YIG and manipulating its magnetism in a non-destructive way is an outstanding challenge, and so far mostly limited to two-dimensional capabilities. Here, we show that irradiation of single-crystal YIG films with a focused UV laser drives a stable, giant enhancement of the perpendicular magnetic anisotropy, preserving the crystalline quality. This modulation is highly confined at the nanoscale in both the lateral an…
Precise control of crystallography and magnetism in focused-ion-beam transformed iron-nickel thin films
CEITEC BUT, Brno University of Technology（布尔诺理工大学欧洲技术与创新卓越中心）；Institute of Applied Physics, TU Wien（维也纳工业大学应用物理研究所）；Institute of Physical Engineering, Brno University of Technology（布尔诺理工大学物理工程学院）
Graphene oxide continues to amaze scientific community for multiple potentials in a broad span of applications such as catalysts, adsorbents, oxidants, etc., determined by constant unveiling of its fantastic natures. Of them, magnetism is not ultimately identified and directly observed by naked eyes. Herein, we report graphene oxide directionally migrated and deposited together simply under external magnetic field from common Nd-Fe-B magnet, whereas the ferromagnetism of graphene oxide did not exhibit that strong as iron. Therefore, we illustrated this interesting pathway to keep close to such…
Transition metal phthalocyanines (TMPc's) are under intense scrutiny in the field of spintronics, as they may be promising storage devices. The simplicity and cheapness of such molecules increase their commercial potential. There is an active study of how the magnetic moment of the metal centre of such molecules can be changed. Here, we particularly consider the iron phthalocyanine molecule (FePc) on a graphene layer as a substrate. We study how graphene defects (the Stone-Wales defect, B-doping, N-doping, S-doping, and combined B (N, S)-doped Stone-Wales defects) change the FePc electronic st…
In this review, we present a summary of the results on single crystal growth of two types of iron-chalcogenide superconductors, Fe(1+y)Te(1-x)Se(x) (11), and A(x)Fe(2-y)Se(2) (A= K, Rb, Cs, Tl, Tl/K, Tl/Rb), using Bridgman, zone-melting, vapor self-transport, and flux techniques. The superconducting and magnetic properties (the latter gained mainly from neutron scattering measurements) of these materials are reviewed to demonstrate the connection between magnetism and superconductivity. It will be shown that for the 11 system, while static magnetic order around the reciprocal lattice position …
In a wide variety of materials, such as copper oxides, heavy fermions, organic salts, and the recently discovered iron pnictides, superconductivity is found in close proximity to a magnetically ordered state. The character of the proximate magnetic phase is thus believed to be crucial for understanding the differences between the various families of unconventional superconductors and the mechanism of superconductivity. Unlike the AFM order in cuprates, the nature of the magnetism and of the underlying electronic state in the iron pnictide superconductors is not well understood. Neither density…
Understanding impacts of phase transition, phase coexistence, and surface magnetism on the longitudinal spin Seebeck effect (LSSE) in a magnetic system is essential to manipulate the spin to charge current conversion efficiency for spincaloritronic applications. We aim to elucidate these effects by performing a comprehensive study of the temperature dependence of LSSE in biphase iron oxide (BPIO = alpha-Fe2O3 + Fe3O4) thin films grown on Si (100) and Al2O3 (111) substrates. A combination of temperature-dependent anomalous Nernst effect (ANE) and electrical resistivity measurements show that th…
First principles calculations have given a new insight into the energies of point defects in many different materials, information which cannot be readily obtained from experiment. Most such calculation are done at zero Kelvin, with the assumption that finite temperature effects on defect energies and barriers are small. In some materials, however, the stable crystal structre of interest is mechanically unstable at 0K. In such cases, alternate approaches are needed. Here we present results of first principles calculations of austenitic iron using the VASP code. We determine an appropriate refe…
Experimentally discovered compounds in the iron-nitrogen system belong to the low concentration part of the Fe-N phase diagram. In our paper, which is based on ab initio calculations we have studied formation and stability of high-pressure iron mono-nitride phases, and particularly the new magnetic phase with a NiAs-type structure. We have investigated the role of dynamic, thermodynamic and electronic properties, such as electronic correlations and pressure-induced phase stabilisation. We demonstrate that the new hexagonal FeN phase is stable for a wide range of external pressure and it can be…
The magneto-optical (MO) effects not only are a powerful probe of magnetism and electronic structure of magnetic solids but also have valuable applications in high-density data-storage technology. Yttrium iron garnet (Y$_3$Fe$_5$O$_{12}$) (YIG) and bismuth iron garnet (Bi$_3$Fe$_5$O$_{12}$) (BIG) are two widely used magnetic semiconductors with strong magneto-optical effects and have also attracted the attention for fundamental physics studies. In particular, YIG has been routinely used as a spin current injector. In this paper, we present a thorough theoretical investigation on magnetism, ele…
In order to investigate the phase stability of equiatomic FeN compounds and the structure-dependent magnetic properties, the electronic structure and total energy of FeN with NaCl, ZnS and CsCl structures and various magnetic configurations are calculated using the first-principles TB-LMTO-ASA method. Among all the FeN phases considered, the antiferromagnetic NaCl structure with q=(00pi) is found to have the lowest energy at the theoretical equilibrium volume. However, the FM NaCl phase lies only 1mRyd higher. The estimated equilibrium lattice constant for nonmagnetic ZnS-type FeN agrees quite…
The experimentally observed ferromagnetism in MgB2 in the normal state is attributed to micro phase separated inclusions of iron. This magnetic character is also observed when the iron content of the samples is reduced below 20 micro-g/g, however in these samples the diamagnetism of MgB2 is apparent and is measured. It is found experimentally that the diamagnetic susceptibility at room temperature of B element, MgB2 and MgB4 is close to the ratio 1:2:4, suggesting that the diamagnetism in these borides is confined to the boron atoms. This observation supports a picture in which the two electro…
Room temperature ferromagnetism was characterized for thin films of SrTi$_{0.6}$Fe$_{0.4}$O$_{3-δ}$ grown by pulsed laser deposition on SrTiO$_{3}$ and Si substrates under different oxygen pressures and after annealing under oxygen and vacuum conditions. X-ray magnetic circular dichroism demonstrated that the magnetization originated from Fe$^{2+}$ cations, whereas Fe$^{3+}$ and Ti$^{4+}$ did not contribute. Films with the highest magnetic moment (0.8 μB per Fe) had the highest measured Fe$^{2+}$:Fe${^3+}$ ratio of 0.1 corresponding to the largest concentration of oxygen vacancies (δ = 0.19). …
To examine the role of magnetism in superconductivity of iron-based superconductors, we first present first-principles optical calculations on three representative parent compounds: LaFeAsO, BaFe2As2 and LiFeAs. Both nonmagnetic (NM) and spin-density wave (SDW) with striped antiferromagnetic order are considered. Due to their layer structure, these compounds in NM states show anomalously large optical anisotropy with a conductivity ratio $σ_{zz}/σ{xx}$ as large as 313% in LaFeAsO and 530% in LiFeAs. Interestingly the giant optical anisotropy is significantly suppressed by SDW. On the other han…
Despite of the appearance of numerous new materials, the iron based alloys and steels continue to play an essential role in modern technology. The properties of a steel are determined by its structural state (ferrite, cementite, pearlite, bainite, martensite, and their combination) that is formed under thermal treatment as a result of the shear lattice reconstruction "gamma" (fcc) -> "alpha" (bcc) and carbon diffusion redistribution. We present a review on a recent progress in the development of a quantitative theory of the phase transformations and microstructure formation in steel that is ba…
Iron-based superconductors are well-known for their intriguing phase diagrams, which manifest a complex interplay of electronic, magnetic and structural degrees of freedom. Among the phase transitions observed are superconducting, magnetic, and several types of structural transitions, including a tetragonal-to-orthorhombic and a collapsed-tetragonal transition. In particular, the widely-observed tetragonal-to-orthorhombic transition is believed to be a result of an electronic order that is coupled to the crystalline lattice and is, thus, referred to as nematic transition. Nematicity is therefo…
Control of the magnetization vector in ferromagnetic films and heterostructures by using electric tools instead of external magnetic fields can lead to low-power memory devices. We observe the robust changes in magnetization states of a thin (about 30 nm) film of alpha-Fe covered by the naturally formed layer ( about 6 nm in thickness) of iron ohyhydroxides (FeOOH) under discharging a capacitor through the film. Strikingly, the magnetization vector is switchable by the discharge even with no any biasing field at room temperatures. In this electrically induced magnetization switching (EIMS) we …
The development of quantitative models for radiation damage effects in iron, iron alloys and steels, particularly for the high temperature properties of the alloys, requires understanding of magnetic interactions, which control the phase stability of ferritic-martensitic, ferritic, and austenitic steels. In this work, disordered magnetic configurations of pure iron and Fe-Cr alloys are investigated using Density Functional Theory (DFT) formalism, in the form of constrained non-collinear magnetic calculations, with the objective of creating a database of atomic magnetic moments and forces actin…
The orbital and spin magnetic properties of iron inside transforming metallic and semiconducting 1D carbon nanotube hybrids are studied by means of local x-ray magnetic circular dichroism (XMCD) and bulk superconducting quantum interference device (SQUID) measurements. Nanotube hybrids are initially ferrocene filled single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNT) of different metallicities. After a high temperature nanochemical reaction ferrocene molecules react with each other to form iron nano clusters. We show that the ferrocenes molecular orbitals interact differently with the SWCNT of different me…
By performing pressure simulations within density functional theory for the family of iron-based superconductors $Ae{}A$Fe$_4$As$_4$ with $Ae$ = Ca, Sr, Ba and $A$ = K, Rb, Cs we predict in these systems the appearance of two consecutive half-collapsed tetragonal transitions at pressures $P_{c_1}$ and $P_{c_2}$, which have a different character in terms of their effect on the electronic structure. We find that, similarly to previous studies for CaKFe$_4$As$_4$, spin-vortex magnetic fluctuations on the Fe sublattice play a key role for an accurate structure prediction in these materials at zero…
Structure and composition of iron chalcogenides have a delicate relationship with magnetism and superconductivity. In this report we investigate the iron sulfide layered tetragonal phase (t-FeS), and compare with three-dimensional hexagonal phase (h-FeS). X-ray diffraction reveals the absence of structural transitions for both t- and h-FeS below room temperature, and gives phase compositions of Fe0.93(1)S and Fe0.84(1)S, respectively, for the samples studied here. The a lattice parameter of bigger than 3.68 A is significant for causing bulk superconductivity in iron sulfide, which is controlle…
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）
We use time-dependent spin-density-functional theory to study dynamical magnetic phenomena. First, we recall that the local-spin-density approximation (LSDA) fails to account correctly for magnetic fluctuations in the paramagnetic state of iron and other itinerant ferromagnets. Next, we construct a gradient-dependent density functional that does not suffer from this problem of the LSDA. This functional is then used to derive, for the first time, the phenomenological Gilbert equation of micromagnetics directly from time-dependent density-functional theory. Limitations and extensions of Gilbert …
Recent experimental studies performed in the normal state of iron-based superconductors have discovered the existence of the $C_4$-symmetric (tetragonal) itinerant magnetic state. This state can be described as a spin density wave with two distinct magnetic vectors ${\vec Q}_1$ and ${\vec Q}_2$. Given an itinerant nature of magnetism in iron-pnictides, we develop a quasiclassical theory of tetragonal magnetic order in disordered three-band metal with anisotropic band structure. Within our model we find that the $C_4$-symmetric magnetism competes with the $C_2$-symmetric state with a single ${\…
The importance of antiferromagnetic fluctuations are widely acknowledged in most unconventional superconductors. In addition, cuprates and iron pnictides often exhibit unidirectional (nematic) electronic correlations, including stripe and orbital orders, whose fluctuations may also play a key role for electron pairing. However, these nematic correlations are intertwined with antiferromagnetic or charge orders, preventing us to identify the essential role of nematic fluctuations. This calls for new materials having only nematicity without competing or coexisting orders. Here we report systemati…
The surprising discovery of superconductivity in layered iron-based materials, with transition temperatures climbing as high as 55 K, has lead to thousands of publications on this subject over the past two years. While there is general consensus on the unconventional nature of the Cooper pairing state of these systems, several central questions remain - including the role of magnetism, the nature of chemical and structural tuning, and the resultant pairing symmetry - and the search for universal properties and principles continues. Here we review the progress of research on iron-based supercon…
We show that lattice dislocations of topological iron-based superconductors such as FeTe$_{1-x}$Se$_x$ will intrinsically trap non-Abelian Majorana quasiparticles, in the absence of any external magnetic field. Our theory is motivated by the recent experimental observations of normal-state topology and surface magnetism that coexist with superconductivity in FeTe$_{1-x}$Se$_x$, the combination of which naturally evokes an emergent second-order topological superconductivity in a two-dimensional subsystem spanned by screw or edge dislocations. This exemplifies a new embedded higher-order topolog…
