The interplay between magnetism, structure, and strong electron-phonon coupling in binary FeAs under pressure

Abstract

Unlike the ferropnictide superconductors, which crystallize in a tetragonal crystal structure, binary FeAs forms in an orthorhombic crystal structure, where the local atomic environment resembles a highly distorted variant of the FeAs4 tetrahdedral building block of the ferropnictide superconductors. However, like the parent compounds of the ferropnictide superconductors, FeAs undergoes magnetic ordering at low temperatures, with no evidence favoring a superconducting ground state at ambient pressure. We employ pressure-dependent electrical transport and x-ray diffraction measurements using diamond anvil cells to characterize the magnetic state and the structure as a function of pressure. While the MnP-type structure of FeAs persists up to 25 GPa, compressing continuously with no evidence of structural transformations under pressure, features in the magnetotransport measurements associated with magnetism are not observed for pressures in excess of 11 GPa. Where observable, the features associated with magnetic order at ambient pressure show remarkably little pressure dependence, and transport measurements suggest that a dynamical structural instability coupled to the Fermi surface via a strong electron-phonon interaction may play an important role in enabling magnetism in FeAs.

8 pages, 7 figures

References in corpus (10)

• The Puzzle of High Temperature Superconductivity in Layered Iron Pnictides and Chalcogenides
• High-temperature superconductivity in iron-based materials
• Superconductivity at 36 K in beta-Fe1.01Se with the compression of the interlayer separation under pressure
• Magnetic order in BaFe2As2, the parent compound of the FeAs based superconductors in a new structural family
• Thorium-doping induced superconductivity up to 56 K in Gd1-xThxFeAsO
• Incommensurate magnetic order in the alpha-Fe(Te,Se) superconductor systems
• Effects of Co substitution on thermodynamic and transport properties and anisotropic $H_{c2}$ in Ba(Fe${}_{1-x}$Co${}_x$)${}_2$As${}_2$ single crystals
• Superconductivity up to 29 K in SrFe2As2 and BaFe2As2 at high pressures
• Correlated pressure effects on structure and superconductivity in LaFeAsO0.9F0.1
• The Electronic Phase Diagram of the Iron-based High Tc Superconductor Ba(Fe(1-x)Co(x))2As2 Under Hydrostatic Pressure (0 < x <0.099)

Cited by in corpus (4)

• Properties of Binary Transition-Metal Arsenides (TAs)
• Magnetic anisotropy and lattice dynamics in FeAs studied by Mössbauer spectroscopy
• Mössbauer studies of the peculiar magnetism in parent compounds of the iron-based superconductors
• Quantum Oscillations in the Anomalous Spin Density Wave State of FeAs