This book provides a modern introduction to the growth, characterization, and physics of iron-based superconducting thin films. Iron pnictide and iron chalcogenide compounds have become intensively studied key materials in condensed matter physics due to their potential for high temperature superconductivity. With maximum critical temperatures of around 60 K, the new superconductors rank first after the celebrated cuprates, and the latest announcements on ultrathin films promise even more. Thin film synthesis of these superconductors began in 2008 immediately after their discovery, and this growing research area has seen remarkable progress up to the present day, especially with regard to the iron chalcogenides FeSe and FeSe1-xTex, the iron pnictide BaFe2-xCoxAs2 and iron-oxyarsenides.
This essential volume provides comprehensive, state-of-the-art coverage of iron-based superconducting thin films in topical chapters with detailed information on thin film synthesis and growth, analytical film characterization, interfaces, and various aspects on physics and materials properties. Current efforts towards technological applications and functional films are outlined and discussed. The development and latest results for monolayer FeSe films are also presented. This book serves as a key reference for students, lecturers, industry engineers, and academic researchers who would like to gain an overview of this complex and growing research area.
Author(s): Silvia Haindl
Series: Springer Series in Materials Science, 315
Publisher: Springer
Year: 2021
Language: English
Pages: 406
City: Cham
Preface
Contents
Acronyms
1 Introduction to Fe-Based Superconductors
1.1 Discoveries and the `Iron Age' in Superconductivity
1.2 Compounds and Crystal Structures
1.3 Iron (Fe) and Superconductivity
1.4 Electronic Bands and Fermi Surfaces
1.5 Nematicity, Magnetism and Superconductivity
References
2 Thin Film Growth of Fe-Based Superconductors
2.1 Pulsed Laser Deposition
2.1.1 Overview
2.1.2 PLD of Fe-Chalcogenides
2.1.3 PLD of Fe-Pnictide Compounds with ThCr2Si2 Structure
2.1.4 PLD of Fe-Oxyarsenides with ZrCuSiAs Structure
2.2 Molecular Beam Epitaxy
2.2.1 Overview
2.2.2 MBE-Growth of Fe-Chalcogenide Thin Films
2.2.3 Fabrication of Fe-Chalcogenide Monolayers
2.2.4 Alkali-Metal Evaporation on Ultrathin FeSe Films
2.2.5 Fe-Chalcogenides/Topological Insulators (TIs)
2.2.6 MBE-Growth of Fe-Pnictides
2.3 Other Thin Film Growth Methods
2.3.1 Two-Stage Synthesis with Postdeposition Annealing
2.3.2 Selenization Methods for FeSe Film Growth
2.3.3 Magnetron Sputtering of Fe-Chalcogenides
2.3.4 Metal-Organic Chemical Vapor Deposition
2.3.5 Electrodeposition of FeSe and LiFeAs
2.3.6 Other Wet Chemical Deposition Processes for FeSe
References
3 Growth, Microstructure and Surfaces
3.1 In-Situ Film Growth Monitoring
3.1.1 LEED
3.1.2 RHEED
3.1.3 HEPD
3.2 Thin Film Texture and Crystal Quality
3.2.1 Texture and In-Plane-Alignment of Grains
3.2.2 Out-of-Plane-Alignment and Rocking Curves
3.3 Growth Modes, Surface Structure and Morphology
3.3.1 Polar Surfaces
3.3.2 Growth Modes of Vapor Deposited Films
3.3.3 Examples of Surface Studies
References
4 The Film/Substrate Interface
4.1 Substrates in Thin Film Growth of Fe-Based Superconductors
4.1.1 The Role of the Substrate
4.1.2 Buffer and Seed Layers
4.1.3 Fe-Chalcogenide Film/Substrate Interfaces
4.1.4 Selected Fe-Pnictide Film/Substrate Interfaces
4.2 Interface Models
4.2.1 Misfit Dislocations
4.2.2 FeSe and FeSe1-xTex on TiO2 and TiO2-Terminated SrTiO3
4.2.3 Interface Models for Fe-Chalcogenides on LaAlO3 and MgO
4.2.4 Heterointerfaces with Fe-Pnictides
4.3 TEM Interface Atlas
4.3.1 Fe-Chalcogenide Thin Film/Substrate Interfaces
4.3.2 Fe-Pnictide Thin Film/Substrate Interfaces
References
5 More Interfaces: Multilayers and Heterostructures with Fe-Based Superconductors
5.1 FeSe1-xTex-Based Multilayers
5.2 New Platforms: Interfaces Between FeSe (FeTe) and TIs
5.3 BaFe2As2-Based Heterointerfaces
5.4 Secondary Phase Formation and Artificially Introduced Nanoparticles
References
6 Thin Film Studies Under Focus
6.1 Vortex Matter in Thin Films
6.1.1 Vortex Motion
6.1.2 Berezinskii-Kosterlitz-Thouless (BKT) Transition
6.1.3 Critical Currents and Vortex Pinning
6.1.4 The Role of Grain Boundaries
6.2 Superconductor-to-Insulator (SIT) Transitions
6.2.1 Granular and Crystalline FeSe Films
6.2.2 Electrostatic Doping in EDLT/FeSe Films and SIT
6.3 Electronic Phase Diagrams
6.3.1 FeSe1-xTex and FeSe1-xSx
6.3.2 FeSe and K-Coated FeSe Surface
6.3.3 Ba(Fe1-xCox)2As2
6.3.4 BaFe2As2/SrTiO3 Superlattices
6.4 Metastable Compounds
6.5 The Tc Boost in FeSe Monolayers
6.5.1 Fermi Surface, Topology and Energy Gap
6.5.2 Charge Transfer
6.5.3 Interfacial Electron-Phonon Coupling
6.5.4 Vortices and Andreev Bound States
6.6 High Magnetic Field Studies
6.6.1 Fe-Chalcogenide Thin Films in High Magnetic Fields
6.6.2 Fe-Pnictide Thin Films in High Magnetic Fields
6.7 Electromagnetic Properties, Superconducting Gaps and Fermi Surfaces …
6.7.1 DC Transport and Response to Low Frequency Fields
6.7.2 Radio Frequency and Microwave Techniques
6.7.3 Optical (IR/THz) Spectroscopy
6.7.4 Photoelectron Spectroscopies
6.7.5 Point-Contact Spectroscopy
6.8 Irradiation and Implantation
6.8.1 Laser Light Irradiation of and Ion Implantation in FeTe Films
6.8.2 Irradiation and Implantation Effects in FeSe1-xTex Films
6.8.3 Irradiation of Fe-Pnictide Thin Films
References
Appendix A Chronological Survey of Selected Publications
Appendix B Space Groups and Brillouin Zones
References
Index
