High pressure effects on the superconductivity in rare-earth-doped CaFe2As2

Abstract

High pressure superconductivity in a rare-earth-doped Ca0.86Pr0.14Fe2As2 single-crystalline sample has been studied up to 12 GPa and temperatures down to 11 K using the designer diamond anvil cell under a quasi-hydrostatic pressure medium. The electrical resistance measurements were complemented by high pressure and low-temperature X-ray diffraction studies at a synchrotron source. The electrical resistance measurements show an intriguing observation of superconductivity under pressure, with Tc as high as ∼51 K at 1.9 GPa, presenting the highest Tc reported in the intermetallic class of 122 iron-based superconductors. The resistive transition observed suggests a possible existence of two superconducting phases at low pressures of 0.5 GPa: one phase starting at Tc1 ∼ 48 K and the other starts at Tc2 ∼ 16 K. The two superconducting transitions show distinct variations with increasing pressure. High pressure and low-temperature structural studies indicate that the superconducting phase is a collapsed tetragonal ThCr2Si2-type (122) crystal structure.