Absence of Superconductivity in the "hole-doped" Fe pnictide Ba(Fe$_{1-x}$Mn$_{x}$)$_{2}$As$_{2}$: Photoemission and X-ray Absorption Spectroscopy Studies

TL;DR

This study investigates why Ba(Fe$_{1-x}$Mn$_{x}$)$_{2}$As$_{2}$ does not become superconducting despite hole doping, revealing that Mn impurities localize electrons and stabilize antiferromagnetic order, preventing superconductivity.

Contribution

The paper provides detailed spectroscopic evidence showing Mn impurities localize electrons and do not induce carrier doping, explaining the absence of superconductivity in Mn-doped BaFe$_2$As$_2$.

Findings

Mn 3d states are localized and split due to Coulomb interactions.

No significant hole doping occurs in the FeAs plane.

Mn impurities stabilize antiferromagnetic order.

Abstract

We have studied the electronic structure of Ba(Fe$_{1-x}$Mn$_{x}$)$_{2}$As$_{2}$ ($x$=0.08), which fails to become a superconductor in spite of the formal hole doping like Ba$_{1-x}$K$_{x}$Fe$_{2}$As$_{2}$, by photoemission spectroscopy and X-ray absorption spectroscopy (XAS). With decreasing temperature, a transition from the paramagnetic phase to the antiferromagnetic phase was clearly observed by angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy. XAS results indicated that the substituted Mn atoms form a strongly hybridized ground state. Resonance-photoemission spectra at the Mn $L_{3}$ edge revealed that the Mn 3d partial density of states is distributed over a wide energy range of 2-13 eV below the Fermi level ($E_F$), with little contribution around $E_F$. This indicates that the dopant Mn 3$d$ states are localized in spite of the strong Mn 3d-As $4p$ hybridization and split into the occupied and unoccupied parts due to the on-site Coulomb and exchange interaction. The absence of superconductivity in Ba(Fe$_{1-x}$Mn$_{x}$)$_{2}$As$_{2}$ can thus be ascribed both to the absence of carrier doping in the FeAs plane, and to the strong stabilizaiton of the antiferromagnetic order by the Mn impurities.