Abstract
We performed a detailed structural, magnetotransport, and superconducting analysis of thin epitaxial Ba(Fe1−xNix)2As2 films with Ni doping of x = 0.05 and 0.08, as prepared by pulsed laser deposition. X-ray diffraction studies demonstrate the high crystalline perfection of the films, which have a similar quality to single crystals. Furthermore, magnetotransport measurements of the films were performed in magnetic fields up to 9 T. The results we used to estimate the density of electronic states at the Fermi level, the coefficient of electronic heat capacity, and other electronic parameters for this compound, in their dependence on the dopant concentration within the framework of the Ginzburg–Landau–Abrikosov–Gorkov theory. The comparison of the determined parameters with measurement data on comparable Ba(Fe1−xNix)2As2 single crystals shows good agreement, which confirms the high quality of the obtained films.
Highlights
Over the past 10 years after the discovery of superconductivity at about 26 K in LaFeAs(O,F) [1], significant research efforts have been devoted to identifying other superconducting iron-based compounds and studying their functional properties
We performed a detailed study on the structural, superconducting, and electronic properties of Ba(Fe1−x Nix )2 As2 epitaxial thin films grown by pulsed laser deposition
Diffraction studies showed that the films have a single-crystal-like structure with a good crystalline quality, being only slightly inferior to single crystals
Summary
Over the past 10 years after the discovery of superconductivity at about 26 K in LaFeAs(O,F) [1], significant research efforts have been devoted to identifying other superconducting iron-based compounds and studying their functional properties. The preparation of high-quality epitaxial thin films of 122 materials resulted, at least for the BaFe2 As2 -based compounds, in properties comparable to single crystals (for examples, see recent reviews on this topic [8,9]) Such films are of particular interest for the study of both fundamental and applied questions [7]. In our previous work [16], we reported on the growth of high-quality epitaxial Ba(Fe1−x Nix ) As2 thin films with different nickel concentrations, as well as on their basic superconducting properties Based on these studies, we evaluated the quality (i.e., the spatial uniformity) of selected films in more detail by sophisticated X-ray measurements, as well as by determining the temperature dependence of the magnetic susceptibility. The results are compared afterwards to the data of corresponding parameters measured on Ba(Fe1−x Nix ) As2 single crystals
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