Output details
13 - Electrical and Electronic Engineering, Metallurgy and Materials
University of Oxford
Direct Observation of Local Potassium Variation and Its Correlation to Electronic Inhomogeneity in (Ba1-xKx)Fe2As2 Pnictide
The origins of nanoscale electronic disorder or phase separation in pnictide superconductors is a contentious issue. One mechanism proposed to explain such phenomena is the existence of subtle local fluctuations in the distribution of dopant atoms. In this research, atom probe tomography enabled the first direct observations of dopant clustering in a K-doped 122-phase pnictide leading to first-principles calculations suggesting the coexistence of static magnetism and superconductivity on lattice parameter length scales over a wide range of dopant concentrations. The results provide the basis for a better understanding of the properties of all pnictide supercondustors.
