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Li J, Ji M, Schwarz T, et al. Local destruction of superconductivity by non-magnetic impurities in mesoscopic iron-based superconductors. Nat Commun. 2015;6:7614doi: 10.1038/ncomms8614.
Li, J., Ji, M., Schwarz, T., Ke, X., Van Tendeloo, G., Yuan, J., Pereira, P. J., Huang, Y., Zhang, G., Feng, H. L., Yuan, Y. H., Hatano, T., Kleiner, R., Koelle, D., Chibotaru, L. F., Yamaura, K., Wang, H. B., Wu, P. H., Takayama-Muromachi, E., Vanacken, J., & Moshchalkov, V. V. (2015). Local destruction of superconductivity by non-magnetic impurities in mesoscopic iron-based superconductors. Nature communications, 67614. https://doi.org/10.1038/ncomms8614
Li, Jun, et al. "Local destruction of superconductivity by non-magnetic impurities in mesoscopic iron-based superconductors." Nature communications vol. 6 (2015): 7614. doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/ncomms8614
Li J, Ji M, Schwarz T, Ke X, Van Tendeloo G, Yuan J, Pereira PJ, Huang Y, Zhang G, Feng HL, Yuan YH, Hatano T, Kleiner R, Koelle D, Chibotaru LF, Yamaura K, Wang HB, Wu PH, Takayama-Muromachi E, Vanacken J, Moshchalkov VV. Local destruction of superconductivity by non-magnetic impurities in mesoscopic iron-based superconductors. Nat Commun. 2015 Jul 03;6:7614. doi: 10.1038/ncomms8614. PMID: 26139568; PMCID: PMC4506518.
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Nat Commun. 2015 Jul 03;6:7614. doi: 10.1038/ncomms8614.

Local destruction of superconductivity by non-magnetic impurities in mesoscopic iron-based superconductors.

Nature communications

Jun Li, Min Ji, Tobias Schwarz, Xiaoxing Ke, Gustaaf Van Tendeloo, Jie Yuan, Paulo J Pereira, Ya Huang, Gufei Zhang, Hai-Luke Feng, Ya-Hua Yuan, Takeshi Hatano, Reinhold Kleiner, Dieter Koelle, Liviu F Chibotaru, Kazunari Yamaura, Hua-Bing Wang, Pei-Heng Wu, Eiji Takayama-Muromachi, Johan Vanacken, Victor V Moshchalkov

Affiliations

  1. 1] INPAC-Institute for Nanoscale Physics and Chemistry, KU Leuven, Celestijnenlaan 200D, Leuven B-3001, Belgium [2] Research Institute of Superconductor Electronics, Nanjing University, Nanjing 210093, China [3] National Institute for Materials Science, 1-1 Namiki, Tsukuba 305-0044, Japan.
  2. 1] Research Institute of Superconductor Electronics, Nanjing University, Nanjing 210093, China [2] National Institute for Materials Science, 1-1 Namiki, Tsukuba 305-0044, Japan.
  3. Physikalisches Institut-Experimentalphysik II and Center for Collective Quantum Phenomena in LISA+, Universität Tübingen, Auf der Morgenstelle 14, Tübingen D-72076, Germany.
  4. Electron Microscopy for Materials Research (EMAT), University of Antwerp, Groenenborgerlaan 171, Antwerp B-2020, Belgium.
  5. 1] National Institute for Materials Science, 1-1 Namiki, Tsukuba 305-0044, Japan [2] Condensed Matter Physics, Institute of Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100190, China.
  6. Division of Quantum and Physical Chemistry and INPAC-Institute for Nanoscale Physics and Chemistry, KU Leuven, Celestijnenlaan 200F, Leuven B-3001, Belgium.
  7. INPAC-Institute for Nanoscale Physics and Chemistry, KU Leuven, Celestijnenlaan 200D, Leuven B-3001, Belgium.
  8. 1] National Institute for Materials Science, 1-1 Namiki, Tsukuba 305-0044, Japan [2] Graduate School of Chemical Science and Engineering, Hokkaido University, Hokkaido 060-0810, Japan.
  9. National Institute for Materials Science, 1-1 Namiki, Tsukuba 305-0044, Japan.
  10. Research Institute of Superconductor Electronics, Nanjing University, Nanjing 210093, China.
  11. 1] Graduate School of Chemical Science and Engineering, Hokkaido University, Hokkaido 060-0810, Japan [2] WPI-MANA, National Institute for Materials Science, 1-1 Namiki, Tsukuba 305-0044, Japan.

PMID: 26139568 PMCID: PMC4506518 DOI: 10.1038/ncomms8614

Abstract

The determination of the pairing symmetry is one of the most crucial issues for the iron-based superconductors, for which various scenarios are discussed controversially. Non-magnetic impurity substitution is one of the most promising approaches to address the issue, because the pair-breaking mechanism from the non-magnetic impurities should be different for various models. Previous substitution experiments demonstrated that the non-magnetic zinc can suppress the superconductivity of various iron-based superconductors. Here we demonstrate the local destruction of superconductivity by non-magnetic zinc impurities in Ba0.5K0.5Fe2As2 by exploring phase-slip phenomena in a mesoscopic structure with 119 × 102 nm(2) cross-section. The impurities suppress superconductivity in a three-dimensional 'Swiss cheese'-like pattern with in-plane and out-of-plane characteristic lengths slightly below ∼1.34 nm. This causes the superconducting order parameter to vary along abundant narrow channels with effective cross-section of a few square nanometres. The local destruction of superconductivity can be related to Cooper pair breaking by non-magnetic impurities.

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