Superconductivity at 31 K in the 111-type iron arsenide superconductor Na1-xFeAs induced by pressure

The effect of pressure on the superconductivity of 111-type Na1-xFeAs is investigated through temperature-dependent electrical-resistance measurements in a diamond anvil cell. The superconducting transition temperature (T-c) increases from 26 K to a maximum of 31 K as the pressure increases from ambient pressure to 3 GPa. Further increasing pressure suppresses T-c drastically. The behavior of pressure-tuned T-c in Na1-xFeAs is much different from that in LixFeAs, although they have the same Cu2Sb-type structure. Copyright (C) EPLA, 2009