title: Superconducting properties of iron chalcogenide thin films.
abstract: Iron chalcogenides, binary FeSe, FeTe and ternary FeTexSe1-x, FeTexS1-xand FeTe:Ox, are the simplest compounds amongst the recently discovered iron-based superconductors. Thin films of iron chalcogenides present many attractive features that are covered in this review, such as: (i) easy fabrication and epitaxial growth on common single-crystal substrates; (ii) strong enhancement of superconducting transition temperature with respect to the bulk parent compounds (in FeTe0.5Se0.5, zero-resistance transition temperatureTc0bulk= 13.5 K, butTc0film= 19 K on LaAlO3substrate); (iii) high critical current density (Jc∼ 0.5 ×106A cm2at 4.2 K and 0 T for FeTe0.5Se0.5film deposited on CaF2, and similar values on flexible metallic substrates (Hastelloy tapes buffered by ion-beam assisted deposition) with a weak dependence on magnetic field; (iv) high upper critical field (∼50 T for FeTe0.5Se0.5,Bc2(0), with a low anisotropy,γ∼ 2). These highlights explain why thin films of iron chalcogenides have been widely studied in recent years and are considered as promising materials for applications requiring high magnetic fields (20-50 T) and low temperatures (2-10 K).
authors.affiliation: Institute for Sustainable Science and Development, Hiroshima University, Kagamiyama 1-3-1, Higashi-Hiroshima 739-8530, Japan.
authors.forename: Paolo
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Mele
keywords: critical current; iron chalcogenides; iron-based superconductors; superconductors; thin films; upper critical field