Pressure-induced superconductivity in Ba0.5Sr0.5Fe2As2.

High-pressure electrical resistance measurements have been performed on single crystal Ba(0.5)Sr(0.5)Fe(2)As(2) platelets to pressures of 16 GPa and temperatures down to 10 K using designer diamond anvils under quasi-hydrostatic conditions with an insulating steatite pressure medium. The resistance measurements show evidence of pressure-induced superconductivity with an onset transition temperature at ∼31 K and zero resistance at ∼22 K for a pressure of 3.3 GPa. The transition temperature decreases gradually with increasing pressure before completely disappearing for pressures above 12 GPa. The present results provide experimental evidence that a solid solution of two 122-type materials, i.e., Ba(1-x)Sr(x)Fe(2)As(2) (0 < x < 1), can also exhibit superconductivity under high pressure.

Neutron diffraction and electrical transport studies on the incommensurate magnetic phase transition in holmium at high pressures.

Neutron diffraction and electrical transport measurements have been made on the heavy rare earth metal holmium at high pressures and low temperatures in order to elucidate its transition from a paramagnetic (PM) to a helical antiferromagnetic (AFM) ordered phase as a function of pressure. The electrical resistance measurements show a change in the resistance slope as the temperature is lowered through the antiferromagnetic Néel temperature. The temperature of this antiferromagnetic transition decreases from approximately 122 K at ambient pressure at a rate of -4.9 K GPa(-1) up to a pressure of 9 GPa, whereupon the PM-to-AFM transition vanishes for higher pressures. Neutron diffraction measurements as a function of pressure at 89 and 110 K confirm the incommensurate nature of the phase transition associated with the antiferromagnetic ordering of the magnetic moments in a helical arrangement and that the ordering occurs at similar pressures as determined from the resistance results for these temperatures.

Structural phase transitions in EuFe2As2 superconductor at low temperatures and high pressures.

The crystal structure of EuFe(2)As(2) has been studied up to a pressure of 35 GPa and down to a temperature of 8 K using temperature dependent x-ray diffraction in a diamond anvil cell at a synchrotron source. At 4.3 GPa, we have detected a structural phase transition from a high temperature tetragonal phase with I4/mmm space group to a low temperature orthorhombic phase with Fmmm space group around 120 K. With the application of pressure at a low temperature of 10 K, the orthorhombic phase is suppressed and a phase change to a collapsed tetragonal phase with I4/mmm space group is observed at 11 GPa. This collapsed tetragonal phase is similar to the one observed at ambient temperature and pressure above 8.5 GPa. We have shown that the collapsed tetragonal phase of EuFe(2)As(2) has the same pressure-volume (P-V) equation of state at ambient temperature and at 10 K, implying that the high pressure phase of EuFe(2)As(2) has a negligible thermal expansion coefficient.

Phase transition and superconductivity of SrFe(2)As(2) under high pressure.

High pressure x-ray diffraction and electrical resistance measurements have been carried out on SrFe(2)As(2) to a pressure of 23 GPa and temperature of 10 K using a synchrotron source and designer diamond anvils. At ambient temperature, a phase transition from the tetragonal phase to a collapsed tetragonal (CT) phase is observed at 10 GPa under non-hydrostatic conditions. The experimental relation that T-CT transition pressure for 122 Fe-based superconductors is dependent on ambient pressure volume is affirmed. The superconducting transition temperature is observed at 32 K at 1.3 GPa and decreases rapidly with a further increase of pressure in the region where the T-CT transition occurs. Our results suggest that T(C) falls below 10 K in the pressure range of 10-18 GPa where the CT phase is expected to be stable.

Structural and magnetic phase transitions in NdCoAsO under high pressures.

We have investigated structural and magnetic phase transitions under high pressures in a quaternary rare-earth transition-metal arsenide oxide NdCoAsO compound that is isostructural to the high temperature superconductor parent phase NdFeAsO. The four-probe electrical resistance measurements carried out in a designer diamond anvil cell show that the ferromagnetic Curie temperature and antiferromagnetic Néel temperature increase with an increase in pressure. High pressure x-ray diffraction studies using a synchrotron source show a structural phase transition from a tetragonal phase to a new crystallographic phase at a pressure of 23 GPa at 300 K. The NdCoAsO sample remained antiferromagnetic and non-superconducting down to 10 K and up to the highest pressure achieved in this experiment, 53 GPa. A P-T phase diagram for NdCoAsO is presented from ambient conditions to P = 53 GPa and T = 10 K.

Formation of collapsed tetragonal phase in EuCo2As2 under high pressure.

The structural properties of EuCo2As2 have been studied up to 35 GPa, through the use of x-ray diffraction in a diamond anvil cell at a synchrotron source. At ambient conditions, EuCo2As2 ) (I4/mmm) has a tetragonal lattice structure with a bulk modulus of 48 ± 4 GPa. With the application of pressure, the a axis exhibits negative compressibility with a concurrent sharp decrease in c-axis length. The anomalous compressibility of the a axis continues until 4.7 GPa, at which point the structure undergoes a second-order phase transition to a collapsed tetragonal (CT) state with a bulk modulus of 111 ± 2 GPa. We found a strong correlation between the ambient pressure volume of 122 parents of superconductors and the corresponding tetragonal to collapsed tetragonal phase transition pressures.

Anomalous compressibility effects and superconductivity of EuFe2As2 under high pressures.

The crystal structure and electrical resistance of structurally layered EuFe(2)As(2) have been studied up to 70 GPa and down to a temperature of 10 K, using a synchrotron x-ray source and designer diamond anvils. The room temperature compression of the tetragonal phase of EuFe(2)As(2) (I4/mmm) results in an increase in the a-axis length and a rapid decrease in the c-axis length with increasing pressure. This anomalous compression reaches a maximum at 8 GPa and the tetragonal lattice behaves normally above 10 GPa, with a nearly constant c/a axial ratio. The rapid rise in the superconducting transition temperature (T(c)) to 41 K with increasing pressure is correlated with this anomalous compression, and a decrease in T(c) is observed above 10 GPa. We present P-V data or the equation of state for EuFe(2)As(2) both in the ambient tetragonal phase and in the high pressure collapsed tetragonal phase up to 70 GPa.