Effect of Mn Substitution on Superconductivity in PrFeAs(O,F): Role of Magnetic Impurities

TL;DR

This study examines how Mn substitution at the Fe site in PrFeAs(O,F) affects superconductivity, revealing that Mn acts as a magnetic impurity that suppresses superconducting properties and alters electronic behavior.

Contribution

It provides a detailed experimental and theoretical analysis of Mn's role as a magnetic impurity in PrFeAs(O,F), highlighting its impact on superconductivity and electronic structure.

Findings

Superconducting transition temperature decreases with Mn content, vanishing at x=0.1.

Mn acts as an effective magnetic impurity disrupting superconducting coherence.

Superconductivity shows relative robustness in Pr-based systems due to electronic correlations.

Abstract

We investigate Mn substitution at the Fe site in PrFe1-xMnxAsO0.7F0.3 (0 to 0.1) using structural, Raman, density functional theory (DFT), transport, and magnetic measurements. X-ray diffraction and Raman analyses confirm preferential Mn incorporation into the FeAs planes, accompanied by lattice expansion and suppression of Fe-related vibrational modes. Electrical transport reveals a systematic decrease of the superconducting transition temperature from 48 K (x = 0) to complete suppression at x = 0.1, together with low-temperature resistivity upturns evolving toward insulating-like behavior. Magnetization and magnetotransport measurements show degradation of superconducting coherence, critical current density, upper critical field, and vortex activation energy with increasing Mn content. The results demonstrate that Mn acts as an efficient magnetic impurity, strongly perturbing the electronic and magnetic environment of the FeAs layers. Comparative analysis indicates relatively enhanced robustness of superconductivity in the Pr-based system, highlighting the role of rare-earth-dependent electronic correlations in impurity effects.