Inhomogeneous charge distribution in a self-doped EuFBiS2 superconductor

Abstract

Stoichiometric ${\mathrm{EuFBiS}}_{2}$ with mixed valent Eu shows self-doped superconductivity at low temperatures due to the Eu-to-Bi charge transfer. The metallic/nonmetallic bistability of the ${\mathrm{BiS}}_{2}$ layer can couple with the valence fluctuation of Eu and provide a highly susceptible electronic state. Here, we report space-resolved photoemission measurements on ${\mathrm{EuFBiS}}_{2}$ revealing an inhomogeneous charge distribution with the coexistence of metallic and nonmetallic phases at mesoscopic length scales. Angle-resolved photoemission measurements using a submicron beam size have confirmed a clear Fermi surface around the zone boundaries in the metallic region, typically observed in a doped system, while it can be hardly seen in the nonmetallic region. Density functional theory calculations suggest that the out-of-plane S atom position in the structure is one of the important factors for the self-doping in this material.