Solid state synthesis and characterization of bulk FeTe0.5Se0.5 superconductors

Abstract

FeTe0.5Se0.5 polycrystalline superconductor samples were synthesized by solid- state reaction method at different heating temperatures. The morphological and structural characterization of FeTe0 5Se0.5 samples were carried out by X-rays Diffraction, Scanning Electron Microscope and Energy Dispersive X-ray Spectroscopy. The electrical, magnetic and thermal transport properties were investigated up to 8 T by using physical property measurement system. The results reveal that the sensitivity of electrical and magnetic properties strongly depends on the heat treatment cycles. The upper critical field, Hc2(0), was determined with the magnetic field parallel to the sample surface. It gives a maximum value of 36.3 T. The lower critical field, Hc1(T), was obtained as 210, 140 and 70 Oe at 5, 8 and 12 K, respectively. The coherence length, ξ, at the zero field, was calculated to be 1.94 nm and suggested a transparent intergrain boundaries peculiarity. The μ0Hc2(0)/kBTc rate shows higher value (3.36 T/K) than the Pauli limit (1.84 T/K) which suggests unconventional nature of superconductivity for the polycrystalline FeTe0.5Se0.5 superconducting samples.