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Title: Doping evolution of the second magnetization peak and magnetic relaxation in ( B a 1 - x K x ) F e 2 A s 2 single crystals

Journal Article · · Physical Review B
 [1];  [1];  [1];  [1];  [2];  [2];  [3]
  1. Ames Lab., Ames, IA (United States). Division of Materials Sciences and Engineering
  2. Ames Lab. and Iowa State Univ., Ames, IA (United States). Division of Materials Sciences and Engineering and Dept. of Physics and Astronomy
  3. Ames Lab. and Iowa State Univ., Ames, IA (United States). Dept. of Materials Science and Engineering

Here, we present a thorough study of doping dependent magnetic hysteresis and relaxation characteristics in single crystals of (Ba1-xKx) Fe2As2 (0.18 ≤ x ≤ 1). The critical current density Jc reaches maximum in the underdoped sample x = 0.26 and then decreases in the optimally doped and overdoped samples. Meanwhile, the magnetic relaxation rate S rapidly increases and the flux creep activation barrier U0 sharply decreases in the overdoped sample x = 0.70. These results suggest that vortex pinning is very strong in the underdoped regime, but it is greatly reduced in the optimally doped and overdoped regime. Transmission electron microscope (TEM) measurements reveal the existence of dislocations and inclusions in all three studied samples x = 0.38, 0.46, and 0.65. An investigation of the paramagnetic Meissner effect (PME) suggests that spatial variations in Tc become small in the samples x = 0.43 and 0.46, slightly above the optimal doping levels. Our results support that two types of pinning sources dominate the (Ba1-xKx) Fe2As2 crystals: (i) strong δl pinning, which results from the fluctuations in the mean free path l and δTc pinning from the spatial variations in Tc in the underdoped regime, and (ii) weak δTc pinning in the optimally doped and overdoped regime.

Research Organization:
Ames Lab., Ames, IA (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE Office of Science (SC), Basic Energy Sciences (BES) (SC-22). Materials Sciences & Engineering Division; USDOE
Grant/Contract Number:
AC02-07CH11358
OSTI ID:
1422753
Alternate ID(s):
OSTI ID: 1421577
Report Number(s):
IS-J-9358; PRBMDO; TRN: US1801652
Journal Information:
Physical Review B, Vol. 97, Issue 5; ISSN 2469-9950
Publisher:
American Physical Society (APS)Copyright Statement
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Citation Metrics:
Cited by: 38 works
Citation information provided by
Web of Science

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Vortex phase diagram study in the superconductor Ca 3 Ir 4 Sn 13 journal August 2018

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