Suppression of Superconductivity and Nematic Order in Fe1-ySe1-xSx (0=x=1; y =0.1) Crystals by Anion Height Disorder

Connections between crystal chemistry and critical temperature Tc have been in the focus of superconductivity, one of the most widely studied phenomena in physics, chemistry, and materials science alike. In most Fe-based superconductors, materials chemistry and physics conspire so that Tc correlates with the average anion height above the Fe plane, i.e., with the geometry of the FeAs4 or FeCh(4) (Ch = Te, Se, or S) tetrahedron. By synthesizing Fe1-ySe1-xSx (0 <=; x <=; 1; y <=; 0.1), we find that in alloyed crystals T-c is not correlated with the anion height like it is for most other Fe superconductors. Instead, changes in T-c(x) and tetragonal-to-orthorhombic (nematic) transition T-s(x) upon cooling are correlated with disorder in Fe vibrations in the direction orthogonal to Fe planes, along the crystallographic c-axis. The disorder stems from the random nature of S substitution, causing deformed Fe(Se,S)(4) tetrahedra with different Fe-Se and Fe-S bond distances. Our results provide evidence of T-c and T-s suppression by disorder in anion height. The connection to local crystal chemistry may be exploited in computational prediction of new superconducting materials with FeSe/S building blocks.

Automated summary

This study demonstrates that in Fe-based superconductors, the correlation between Tc and anion height is disrupted in alloyed crystals, and instead, the disorder in Fe vibrations orthogonal to the Fe planes along the crystallographic c-axis is correlated with changes in Tc and the tetragonal-to-orthorhombic transition Ts. The disorder is caused by random S substitution, resulting in deformed Fe(Se,S)(4) tetrahedra, which suppress Tc and Ts.