Effects of magnetic doping and temperature dependence on phonon dynamics in CaFe\_{1-x}Co\_{x}AsF compounds (x = 0, 0.06, 0.12)

TL;DR

This study investigates how magnetic doping and temperature influence phonon behavior in CaFe extsubscript{1-x}Co extsubscript{x}AsF compounds, revealing doping-induced phonon hardening and the role of spin-phonon interactions in superconductivity.

Contribution

It provides new experimental and theoretical insights into phonon dynamics and spin-phonon interactions in doped CaFeAsF compounds, highlighting differences from related Fe-based superconductors.

Findings

Doping causes phonon mode hardening up to 12 meV.

Intermediate energy phonons shift to higher energies with Co doping.

Strong spin-phonon interactions are linked to superconductivity emergence.

Abstract

We report detailed measurements of composition as well as temperature dependence of the phonon density-of-states in a new series of FeAs compounds with composition CaFe1\_{1-x}Co\_{x}AsF (x = 0, 0.06, 0.12). The composition as well as temperature dependence of phonon spectra for CaFe\_{1-x}Co\_{x}AsF (x = 0, 0.06, 0.12) compounds have been measured using time of flight IN4C and IN6 spectrometers at ILL, France. The comparison of phonon spectra at 300 K in these compounds shows that acoustic phonon modes up to 12 meV harden in the doped compounds in comparison to the parent CaFeAsF. While intermediate energy phonon modes from 15 meV to 25 meV are also found to shift towards high energies only in the 12 % Co doped CaFeAsF compound. The experimental results for CaFe\_{1-x}Co\_{x}AsF (x = 0, 0.06, 0.12) are quite different from our previous phonon studies on parent and superconducting MFe2As2 (M=Ba, Ca, Sr) where low-energy acoustic phonon modes do not react with doping, while the phonon spectra in the intermediate range from 15 to 25 K are found to soften in these compounds. We argue that stronger spin phonon interaction play an important role for the emergence of superconductivity in these compounds. The lattice dynamics of CaFe\_{1-x}Co\_{x}AsF (x = 0, 0.06, 0.12) compounds is also investigated using the ab-initio as well as shell model phonon calculations. We show that the nature of the interaction between the Ca and the Fe-As layers in CaFeAsF compounds is quite different compared with our previous studies on CaFe2As2.