Interrogating the superconductor Ca 10 (Pt 4 As 8 )(Fe 2-x Pt x As 2 ) 5 Layer-by-layer

Ever since the discovery of high-T superconductivity in layered cuprates, the roles that individual layers play have been debated, due to difficulty in layer-by-layer characterization. While there is similar challenge in many Fe-based layered superconductors, the newly-discovered Ca (Pt As )(Fe As )...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Scientific reports 2016-10, Vol.6, p.35365
Main Authors: Kim, Jisun, Nam, Hyoungdo, Li, Guorong, Karki, A B, Wang, Zhen, Zhu, Yimei, Shih, Chih-Kang, Zhang, Jiandi, Jin, Rongying, Plummer, E W
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND SUPERFLUIDITY
Online Access:Get full text
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Summary:Ever since the discovery of high-T superconductivity in layered cuprates, the roles that individual layers play have been debated, due to difficulty in layer-by-layer characterization. While there is similar challenge in many Fe-based layered superconductors, the newly-discovered Ca (Pt As )(Fe As ) provides opportunities to explore superconductivity layer by layer, because it contains both superconducting building blocks (Fe As layers) and intermediate Pt As layers. Cleaving a single crystal under ultra-high vacuum results in multiple terminations: an ordered Pt As layer, two reconstructed Ca layers on the top of a Pt As layer, and disordered Ca layer on the top of Fe As layer. The electronic properties of individual layers are studied using scanning tunneling microscopy/spectroscopy (STM/S), which reveals different spectra for each surface. Remarkably superconducting coherence peaks are seen only on the ordered Ca/Pt As layer. Our results indicate that an ordered structure with proper charge balance is required in order to preserve superconductivity.
ISSN:2045-2322
2045-2322