A. Charnukha, A. Cvitkovic, T. Prokscha, D. Proepper, N. Ocelic, A. Suter, Z. Salman, E. Morenzoni, J. Deisenhofer, V. Tsurkan, A. Loidl, B. Keimer, A. V. Boris
We studied phase separation in a single-crystalline antiferromagnetic
superconductor Rb2Fe4Se5 (RFS) using a combination of scattering-type scanning
near-field optical microscopy (s-SNOM) and low-energy muon spin rotation
(LE-\mu SR). We demonstrate that the antiferromagnetic and superconducting
phases segregate into nanometer-thick layers perpendicular to the iron-selenide
planes, while the characteristic in-plane size of the metallic domains reaches
10 \mu m. By means of LE-\mu SR we further show that in a 40-nm thick surface
layer the ordered antiferromagnetic moment is drastically reduced, while the
volume fraction of the paramagnetic phase is significantly enhanced over its
bulk value. Self-organization into a quasiregular heterostructure indicates an
intimate connection between the modulated superconducting and antiferromagnetic
phases.
View original:
http://arxiv.org/abs/1202.5446
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