Research and mechanism of iron-based superconductors

Abstract

The discovery of new iron-based superconductor LaFeAsO1-xFx with Tc of 26 K in 2008 had quickly revived interest in the exploration of iron-based superconductors. After several years of research on this superconducting material, iron-based superconductors have become another family of high-temperature superconductors after copper-based superconductors. The crystal structure of LaOFeAs is P4/nmm family, and by doping with fluorine, LaO1-xFxFeAs exhibits superconductivity because both structural distortion and magnetic order are suppressed. In this review, the development and experimental results of such iron-based high Tc materials will be presented. We describe the synthetic method of this class of superconductors, the physical properties of the precursors, the doping methods that can produce superconductivity, the pressure effect, and the prospects of this new iron-based high Tc family.