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Local Structure of the Superconductor K0.8Fe1.6+xSe2: Evidence of Large Structural Disorder

The local structure of superconducting single crystals of K0.8Fe1.6+xSe2 with Tc = 32.6 K was studied by x-ray absorption spectroscopy. Near-edge spectra reveal that the average valence of Fe is 2+. The room temperature structure about the Fe, K and Se sites was examined by iron, selenium and potassium K-edge measurements. The structure about the Se and Fe sites shows a high degree of order in the nearest neighbor Fe-Se bonds. On the other hand, the combined Se and K local structure measurements reveal a very high level of structural disorder in the K layers. Temperature dependent measurements at the Fe sites show that the Fe-Se atomic correlation follows that of the Fe-As correlation in the superconductor LaFeAsO0.89F0.11 - having the same effective Einstein temperature (stiffness). In K0.8Fe1.6+xSe2, the nearest neighbor Fe-Fe bonds has a lower Einstein temperature and higher structural disorder than in LaFeAsO0.89F0.11. The moderate Fe site and high K site structural disorder is consistent with the high normal state resistivity seen in this class of materials. For higher shells, an enhancement of the second nearest neighbor Fe-Fe interaction is found just below Tc and suggests that correlations between Fe magnetic ion pairs beyond the first neighbor are important in models of magnetic order and superconductivity in these materials.