Application of pressures or electron-doping through Co substitution into Fe sites transforms the itinerant antiferromagnet BaFe(2)As(2) into a superconductor with the Tc exceeding 20K. We carried out systematic transport measurements of BaFe(2-x)Co(x)As(2) superconductors in pressures up to 2.5GPa, and elucidate the interplay between the effects of electron-doping and pressures. For the underdoped sample with nominal composition x = 0.08, application of pressure strongly suppresses a magnetic instability while enhancing Tc by nearly a factor of two from 11K to 21K. In contrast, the optimally doped x=0.20 sample shows very little enhancement of Tc=22K under applied pressure. Our results strongly suggest that the proximity to a magnetic instability is the key to the mechanism of superconductivity in iron-pnictides.
@article{arxiv.0810.0287,
title = {Pressure effects on the electron-doped high Tc superconductor BaFe(2-x)Co(x)As(2)},
author = {K. Ahilan and J. Balasubramaniam and F. L. Ning and T. Imai and A. S. Sefat and R. Jin and M. A. McGuire and B. C. Sales and D. Mandrus},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:0810.0287},
year = {2009}
}