Superconductivity at 38 K in the Iron Arsenide ( Ba 1 − x K x ) Fe 2 As 2

The ternary iron arsenide ${\mathrm{BaFe}}_{2}{\mathrm{As}}_{2}$ becomes superconducting by hole doping, which was achieved by partial substitution of the barium site with potassium. We have discovered bulk superconductivity at ${T}_{c}=38\text{ }\text{ }\mathrm{K}$ in $({\mathrm{Ba}}_{1\ensuremath{-}x}{\mathrm{K}}_{x}){\mathrm{Fe}}_{2}{\mathrm{As}}_{2}$ with $x\ensuremath{\approx}0.4$. The parent compound ${\mathrm{BaFe}}_{2}{\mathrm{As}}_{2}$ crystallizes in the tetragonal ${\mathrm{ThCr}}_{2}{\mathrm{Si}}_{2}$-type structure, which consists of $(\mathrm{FeAs}{)}^{\ensuremath{\delta}\ensuremath{-}}$ iron arsenide layers separated by ${\mathrm{Ba}}^{2+}$ ions. ${\mathrm{BaFe}}_{2}{\mathrm{As}}_{2}$ is a poor…