Dopant clustering, electronic inhomogeneity, and vortex pinning in iron-based superconductors
View/ Open
Author
Yin, Yi
Zech, Martin
Chen, Gen-Fu
Luo, Jian-Lin
Wang, Nan-Lin
Hudson, E. W.
Published Version
https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevB.87.214519Metadata
Show full item recordCitation
Song, Can-Li, Yi Yin, Martin Zech, Tess Williams, Michael M. Yee, Gen-Fu Chen, Jian-Lin Luo, Nan-Lin Wang, E. W. Hudson, and Jennifer E. Hoffman. 2013. “Dopant Clustering, Electronic Inhomogeneity, and Vortex Pinning in Iron-Based Superconductors.” Phys. Rev. B 87 (21) (June): 214519.Abstract
We use scanning tunneling microscopy to map the surface structure, nanoscale electronic inhomogeneity, and vitreous vortex phase in the hole-doped superconductor Sr0.75K0.25Fe2As2 with Tc=32 K. We find that the low-T cleaved surface is dominated by a half Sr/K termination with 1×2 ordering and ubiquitous superconducting gap, while patches of gapless, unreconstructed As termination appear rarely. The superconducting gap varies by σ/Δ¯=16% on a ∼3 nm length scale, with average 2Δ¯/kBTc=3.6 in the weak-coupling limit. The vortex core size provides a measure of the superconducting coherence length ξ=2.3 nm. We quantify the vortex lattice correlation length at 9 T in comparison to several iron-based superconductors. The comparison leads us to suggest the importance of dopant size mismatch as a cause of dopant clustering, electronic inhomogeneity, and strong vortex pinning.Terms of Use
This article is made available under the terms and conditions applicable to Other Posted Material, as set forth at http://nrs.harvard.edu/urn-3:HUL.InstRepos:dash.current.terms-of-use#LAACitable link to this page
http://nrs.harvard.edu/urn-3:HUL.InstRepos:12748089
Collections
- FAS Scholarly Articles [18256]
Contact administrator regarding this item (to report mistakes or request changes)