Nanoscale Layering of Antiferromagnetic and Superconducting Phases in Rb2Fe4Se5 Single Crystals

作者：Charnukha A^*; Cvitkovic A; Prokscha T; Proepper D; Ocelic N; Suter A; Salman Z; Morenzoni E; Deisenhofer J; Tsurkan V; Loidl A; Keimer B; Boris A V

来源：Physical Review Letters, 2012, 109(1): 017003.

DOI：10.1103/PhysRevLett.109.017003

We studied phase separation in the single-crystalline antiferromagnetic superconductor Rb2Fe4Se5 (RFS) using a combination of scattering-type scanning near-field optical microscopy and low-energy muon spin rotation (LE-mu SR). We demonstrate that the antiferromagnetic and superconducting phases segregate into nanometer-thick layers perpendicular to the iron-selenide planes, while the characteristic in-plane size of the metallic domains reaches 10 mu m. By means of LE-mu SR we further show that in a 40-nm thick surface layer the ordered antiferromagnetic moment is drastically reduced, while the volume fraction of the paramagnetic phase is significantly enhanced over its bulk value. Self-organization into a quasiregular heterostructure indicates an intimate connection between the modulated superconducting and antiferromagnetic phases.

• 出版日期2012-7-5