Pressure and chemical substitution effects in the local atomic structure of BaFe2As2

Abstract

The effects of K and Co substitutions and quasihydrostatic applied pressure (P < 9 GPa) in the local atomic structure of BaFe2As2, Ba(Fe0.937Co0.063)2As2 and Ba0.85K0.15Fe2As2 superconductors were investigated by extended x-ray absorption fine structure (EXAFS) measurements in the As K absorption edge. The As-Fe bond length is found to be slightly reduced ( >~0.01 Å) by both Co and K substitutions, without any observable increment in the corresponding Debye-Waller factor. Also, this bond is shown to be compressible [κ = 3.3(3) × 10−3 GPa−1]. The observed contractions of As-Fe bond under pressure and chemical substitutions are likely related with a reduction of the local Fe magnetic moments, and should be an important tuning parameter in the phase diagrams of the Fe-based superconductors.