Separation of antiferromagnetism and high-temperature superconductivity in Ca$_{1-x}$La$_x$Fe$_2$As$_2$ under pressure
cond-mat.supr-con
/ Authors
Shanta R. Saha, T. Drye, S. K. Goh, L. E. Klintberg, J. M. Silver, F. M. Grosche, M. Sutherland, T. J. S. Munsie, G. M. Luke, D. K. Pratt
and 2 more authors
/ Abstract
We report the effect of applied pressures on magnetic and superconducting order in single crystals of the aliovalent La-doped iron pnictide material Ca$_{1-x}$La$_{x}$Fe$_{2}$As$_{2}$. Using electrical transport, elastic neutron scattering and resonant tunnel diode oscillator measurements on samples under both quasi-hydrostatic and hydrostatic pressure conditions, we report a series of phase diagrams spanning the range of substitution concentrations for both antiferromagnetic and superconducting ground states that include pressure-tuning through the antiferromagnetic (AFM) quantum critical point. Our results indicate that the observed superconducting phase with maximum transition temperature of $T_{c}$=47 K is intrinsic to these materials, appearing only upon suppression of magnetic order by pressure tuning through the AFM critical point. In contrast to all other intermetallic iron-pnictide superconductors with the ThCr$_2$Si$_2$ structure, this superconducting phase appears to exist only exclusively from the antiferromagnetic phase in a manner similar to the oxygen- and fluorine-based iron-pnictide superconductors with the highest transition temperatures reported to date. The unusual dichotomy between lower-$T_{c}$ systems with coexistent superconductivity and magnetism and the tendency for the highest-$T_{c}$ systems to show non-coexistence provides an important insight into the distinct transition temperature limits in different members of the iron-based superconductor family.