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Complex structures of different CaFe$_{2}$As$_{2}$ samples

Superconductivity 2014-02-19 v1 Materials Science Strongly Correlated Electrons

Abstract

The interplay between magnetism and crystal structures in three CaFe2_{2}As2_{2} samples is studied. For the nonmagnetic quenched crystals, different crystalline domains with varying lattice parameters are found, and three phases (orthorhombic, tetragonal, and collapsed tetragonal) coexist between TS_{S} = 95 K and 45 K. Annealing of the quenched crystals at 350{\deg}C leads to a strain relief through a large (~1.3 %) expansion of the c-parameter and a small (~0.2 %) contraction of the a-parameter, and to local ~0.2 {\AA} displacements at the atomic-level. This annealing procedure results in the most homogeneous crystals for which the antiferromagnetic and orthorhombic phase transitions occur at TN_{N}/TS_{S} = 168(1) K. In the 700{\deg}C-annealed crystal, an intermediate strain regime takes place, with tetragonal and orthorhombic structural phases coexisting between 80 to 120 K. The origin of such strong shifts in the transition temperatures are tied to structural parameters. Importantly, with annealing, an increase in the Fe-As length leads to more localized Fe electrons and higher local magnetic moments on Fe ions. Synergistic contribution of other structural parameters, including a decrease in the Fe-Fe distance, and a dramatic increase of the c-parameter, which enhances the Fermi surface nesting in CaFe2_{2}As2_{2}, are also discussed.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.1402.4358,
  title  = {Complex structures of different CaFe$_{2}$As$_{2}$ samples},
  author = {Bayrammurad Saparov and Claudia Cantoni and Minghu Pan and Thomas C. Hogan and William Ratcliff and Stephen D. Wilson and Katharina Fritsch and Bruce D. Gaulin and Athena S. Sefat},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:1402.4358},
  year   = {2014}
}

Comments

5 pages main text, 5 figures and 6 pages Supporting Information

R2 v1 2026-06-22T03:10:37.059Z