Visualizing Atomic Quantum Defects in Ultrathin 1T-PtTe2.

Defects are of significant importance to determine and improve the distinct properties of 2D materials, such as electronic, optical, and catalytic performance. In this report, we observe four types of point defects in atomically thin flakes of 1T-PtTe2 by using low-temperature scanning tunnelling microscopy and spectroscopy (STM/S). Through the combination of STM imaging and simulations, such defects are identified as a single tellurium vacancy from each side of the top PtTe2 layer and a single platinum vacancy from the topmost and next layer. The density functional theory (DFT) calculations reveal that the platinum vacancies from both the monolayer and bilayer exhibit a local magnetic moment. In bilayer PtTe2, the interlayer coulomb screening effect reduces the local magnetic momentum of the single platinum vacancy. Our research provides meaningful guidance for further experiments about the effects of intrinsic defects on potential functions of thin 1T-PtTe2, such as catalysis and spintronic applications.

Emergence of superconductivity from fully incoherent normal state in an iron-based superconductor (Ba0.6K0.4)Fe2As2.

In unconventional superconductors, it is generally believed that understanding the physical properties of the normal state is a pre-requisite for understanding the superconductivity mechanism. In conventional superconductors like niobium or lead, the normal state is a Fermi liquid with a well-defined Fermi surface and well-defined quasipartcles along the Fermi surface. Superconductivity is realized in this case by the Fermi surface instability in the superconducting state and the formation and condensation of the electron pairs (Cooper pairing). The high temperature cuprate superconductors, on the other hand, represent another extreme case that superconductivity can be realized in the underdoped region where there is neither well-defined Fermi surface due to the pseudogap formation nor quasiparticles near the antinodal regions in the normal state. Here we report a novel scenario that superconductivity is realized in a system with well-defined Fermi surface but without quasiparticles along the Fermi surface in the normal state. High resolution laser-based angle-resolved photoemission measurements have been performed on an optimally-doped iron-based superconductor (Ba0.6K0.4)Fe2As2. We find that, while sharp superconducting coherence peaks emerge in the superconducting state on the hole-like Fermi surface sheets, no quasiparticle peak is present in the normal state. Its electronic behaviours deviate strongly from a Fermi liquid system. The superconducting gap of such a system exhibits an unusual temperature dependence that it is nearly a constant in the superconducting state and abruptly closes at Tc. These observations have provided a new platform to study unconventional superconductivity in a non-Fermi liquid system.

The upper critical field and its anisotropy in (Li1-x Fe x )OHFe1-y Se.

The temperature dependence of the upper critical field (H c2) in a (Li1-x Fe x )OHFe1-y Se single crystal ([Formula: see text] K) has been determined by means of magnetotransport measurements down to 1.4 K both for inter-plane ([Formula: see text], [Formula: see text]) and in-plane ([Formula: see text], [Formula: see text]) field directions in static magnetic fields up to 14 T and pulsed magnetic fields up to 70 T. [Formula: see text] exhibits a quasilinear increase with decreasing temperature below the superconducting transition and can be described well by an effective two-band model with unbalanced diffusivity, while [Formula: see text] shows a flattening below 35 K and follows the Werthamer-Helfand-Hohenberg (WHH) model incorporating orbital pair-breaking and spin-paramagnetic effects, yielding zero-temperature critical fields of [Formula: see text] T and [Formula: see text] T. The anisotropy of the upper critical fields, [Formula: see text] monotonically decreases with decreasing temperature from about 7 near T c to 1.5 at 0 K. This reduced anisotropy, observed in most Fe-based superconductors, is caused by the Pauli limitation of [Formula: see text].

Common electronic origin of superconductivity in (Li,Fe)OHFeSe bulk superconductor and single-layer FeSe/SrTiO3 films.

The mechanism of high-temperature superconductivity in the iron-based superconductors remains an outstanding issue in condensed matter physics. The electronic structure plays an essential role in dictating superconductivity. Recent revelation of distinct electronic structure and high-temperature superconductivity in the single-layer FeSe/SrTiO3 films provides key information on the role of Fermi surface topology and interface in inducing or enhancing superconductivity. Here we report high-resolution angle-resolved photoemission measurements on the electronic structure and superconducting gap of an FeSe-based superconductor, (Li0.84Fe0.16)OHFe0.98Se, with a Tc at 41 K. We find that this single-phase bulk superconductor shows remarkably similar electronic behaviours to that of the superconducting single-layer FeSe/SrTiO3 films in terms of Fermi surface topology, band structure and the gap symmetry. These observations provide new insights in understanding high-temperature superconductivity in the single-layer FeSe/SrTiO3 films and the mechanism of superconductivity in the bulk iron-based superconductors.

Phase diagram of (Li(1-x)Fe(x))OHFeSe: a bridge between iron selenide and arsenide superconductors.

Previous experimental results have shown important differences between iron selenide and arsenide superconductors which seem to suggest that the high-temperature superconductivity in these two subgroups of iron-based families may arise from different electronic ground states. Here we report the complete phase diagram of a newly synthesized superconducting (SC) system, (Li1-xFex)OHFeSe, with a structure similar to that of FeAs-based superconductors. In the non-SC samples, an antiferromagnetic (AFM) spin-density-wave (SDW) transition occurs at ∼127 K. This is the first example to demonstrate such an SDW phase in an FeSe-based superconductor system. Transmission electron microscopy shows that a well-known √5×√5 iron vacancy ordered state, resulting in an AFM order at ∼500 K in AyFe2-xSe2 (A = metal ions) superconductor systems, is absent in both non-SC and SC samples, but a unique superstructure with a modulation wave vector q = (1)/2(1,1,0), identical to that seen in the SC phase of KyFe2-xSe2, is dominant in the optimal SC sample (with an SC transition temperature Tc = 40 K). Hence, we conclude that the high-Tc superconductivity in (Li1-xFex)OHFeSe stems from the similarly weak AFM fluctuations as FeAs-based superconductors, suggesting a universal physical picture for both iron selenide and arsenide superconductors.