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Electronic and Superconducting Properties of the AFeAs (A = Li, Na) Family Alkali-Metal Pnictides: Current Stage of the Research (Brief Review)

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The review is focused on one of the most exotic families of iron-based superconductors belonging to the AFeAs structural class, where A is an alkali metal. We briefly concern physical and electronic properties of the typical members of this family, LiFeAs and NaFeAs, discuss the theoretical models describing the multigap superconducting state, and the experimental data available in literature. As well, we specify the main unsolved problems, that seem crucial for both, the AFeAs family and for iron-based superconductors in g-eneral.

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Notes

  1. The data points for Tc ≈ 16.5 K represent the characteristic ratios averaged over those determined by the authors in the IMARE studies of ten Andreev junctions with the corresponding local critical temperature obtained in LiFeAs single crystals.

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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

We are grateful to I.V. Morozov for the high-quality LiFeAs samples provided, moral and technical support, and permanent regard, as well as to M.M. Korshunov and V.M. Pudalov for fruitful discussions.

Funding

This work was supported by the Ministry of Science and Higher Education of the Russian Federation (project no. 0023-2019-0005, topic “Physics of High-Temperature Superconductors and Novel Quantum Materials”). The experimental IMARE study of LiFeAs with the participation by T.E. Kuzmicheva was supported by the Russian Science Foundation (project no. 19-72-00196).

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  1. Lebedev Physcial Institute, Russian Academy of Sciences, 119991, Moscow, Russia

    T. E. Kuzmicheva & S. A. Kuzmichev

  2. Faculty of Physics, Moscow State University, 119991, Moscow, Russia

    S. A. Kuzmichev

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Kuzmicheva, T.E., Kuzmichev, S.A. Electronic and Superconducting Properties of the AFeAs (A = Li, Na) Family Alkali-Metal Pnictides: Current Stage of the Research (Brief Review). Jetp Lett. 114, 630–642 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1134/S0021364021220070

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