Interplay of composition, structure, magnetism, and superconductivity in SmFeAs_{1−x}P_{x}O_{1−y}

Abstract

Polycrystalline samples and single crystals of SmFeAs1−xPxO1−y were synthesized and grown employing different synthesis methods and annealing conditions. Depending on the phosphorus and oxygen content, the samples are either magnetic or superconducting. In the fully oxygenated compounds, the main impacts of phosphorus substitution are to suppress the Néel temperature TN of the spin density wave (SDW) state and to strongly reduce the local magnetic field in the SDW state, as deduced from muon spin rotation measurements. On the other hand, the superconducting state is observed in the oxygen-deficient samples only after heat treatment under high pressure. Oxygen deficiency as a result of synthesis at high pressure brings the Sm-O layer closer to the superconducting As/P-Fe-As/P block and provides additional electron transfer. Interestingly, the structural modifications in response to this variation of the electron count are significantly different when phosphorus is partly substituting arsenic. Point contact spectra are well described with two superconducting gaps. Magnetic and resistance measurements on single crystals indicate an in-plane magnetic penetration depth of ∼200 nm and an anisotropy of the upper critical field slope of ∼4–5.