Quantum oscillations in antiferromagnetic CaFe(2)As(2) on the brink of superconductivity

J Phys Condens Matter. 2009 Aug 12;21(32):322202. doi: 10.1088/0953-8984/21/32/322202. Epub 2009 Jul 20.

Abstract

We report quantum oscillation measurements on CaFe(2)As(2) under strong magnetic fields-recently reported to become superconducting under pressures of as little as a kilobar. The largest observed carrier pocket occupies less than 0.05% of the paramagnetic Brillouin zone volume-consistent with Fermi surface reconstruction caused by antiferromagnetism. On comparing several alkaline earth AFe(2)As(2) antiferromagnets (with A = Ca, Sr and Ba), the dependences of the Fermi surface cross-sectional area F(α) and the effective mass m(α)(*) of the primary observed pocket on the antiferromagnetic/structural transition temperature T(s) are both found to be consistent with the case for quasiparticles in a conventional spin-density wave model. These findings suggest that the recently proposed strain-enhanced superconductivity in these materials occurs within a broadly conventional spin-density wave phase.