Paper detail

Anisotropic superconducting properties of single-crystalline FeSe0.5Te0.5

Iron-chalcogenide single crystals with the nominal composition FeSe$_{0.5}$Te$_{0.5}$ and a transition temperature of $T_{c}\simeq14.6$ K were synthesized by the Bridgman method. The structural and anisotropic superconducting properties of those crystals were investigated by means of single crystal X-ray and neutron powder diffraction, SQUID and torque magnetometry, and muon-spin rotation. Room temperature neutron powder diffraction reveals that 95% of the crystal volume is of the same tetragonal structure as PbO. The structure refinement yields a stoichiometry of Fe_1.045Se_0.406Te_0.594. Additionally, a minor hexagonal Fe_7Se_8 impurity phase was identified. The magnetic penetration depth λat zero temperature was found to be 491(8) nm in the ab-plane and 1320(14) nm along the c-axis. The zero-temperature value of the superfluid density ρ_s(0) λ^-2(0) obeys the empirical Uemura relation observed for various unconventional superconductors, including cuprates and iron-pnictides. The temperature dependences of both λ_ab and λ_c are well described by a two-gap s+s-wave model with the zero-temperature gap values of Δ_S(0)=0.51(3) meV and Δ_L(0)=2.61(9) meV for the small and the large gap, respectively. The magnetic penetration depth anisotropy parameter γ_λ(T)=λ_c(T)/λ_{ab}(T) increases with decreasing temperature, in agreement with γ_λ(T) observed in the iron-pnictide superconductors.