Superconductivity in iron-based F-doped layered quaternary compound Nd[O1-xFx]FeAs

TL;DR

This paper reports the discovery of Nd[O1-xFx]FeAs, a new iron-based superconductor with a Tc of 51.9 K, expanding the family of high-temperature non-cuprate superconductors with layered structures.

Contribution

The paper introduces Nd[O1-xFx]FeAs as a new high-Tc superconductor in the iron-based layered quaternary compounds, with Tc above 50 K, adding to the family of non-cuprate superconductors.

Findings

Nd[O1-xFx]FeAs has a Tc of 51.9 K.

It is the second non-cuprate superconductor with Tc above 50 K.

The compound shares a tetragonal layered structure with other arsenide superconductors.

Abstract

The recently discovered quaternary arsenide oxide superconductor La[O1-xFx]FeAs with the superconducting critical transition temperature (Tc) of 26 K [1], has been quickly expanded to another high-Tc superconducting system beyond copper oxides by the replacement of La with other rare earth elements, such as Sm, Ce, and Pr etc. [2-4], and the Pr[O1-xFx]FeAs has become to be the first non-cuprate superconductor that holding a Tc above 50 K. All these arsenide (including phosphide) superconductors formed in a same tetragonal layered structure with the space group P4/nmm which has an alternant stacked Fe-As layer and RO (R = rare earth metals) layer. Here we report the discovery of another superconductor in this system, the neodymium-arsenide Nd[O1-xFx]FeAs with an resistivity onset Tc of 51.9 K, which is the second non-cuprate compound that superconducts above 50 K.