Antiferromagnetic order and spin dynamics in iron-based superconductors

In contrast to conventional BCS superconductors, the observation that superconductivity in unconventional high-temperature materials appears in close proximity to a static antiferromagnetic phase suggests that magnetism plays a fundamental role in the microscopic origins of superconductivity. This review provides an overview of how elastic and inelastic neutron scattering is used to determine the magnetic structures and the doping evolution of spin excitations in iron-based superconductors. The interplay between magnetism and superconductivity is contrasted with related behavior in the copper oxide and heavy fermion superconductors and is important to future theoretical efforts.

• NS
  National Science Foundation

  Awards: DMR-143606, DMR-1308603, DMR-1362219
• UD
  U.S. Department of Energy

  Award: DE-SC0012311
• WF
  Welch Foundation

  Award: C-1839