Magnetotransport property of oxygen-annealed Fe_1+y Te thin films

Abstract

Fe-based superconductors are one of the current research focuses. FeTe is unique in the series of FeSe1−x Te x , since it is nonsuperconducting near the FeTe side in the phase diagram in contrast to the presence of superconductivity in other region. However, FeTe thin films become superconducting after oxygen annealing and the mechanism remains elusive. Here, we report the temperature dependences of resistivity, Hall effect and magnetoresistance (MR) of a series of FeTe thin films with different amounts of excess Fe and oxygen. These properties show dramatic changes with excess Fe and oxygen incorporation. We found the Hall coefficients are positive for the oxygen-annealed samples, in contrast to the transition from positive to negative below 50 K for the vacuum-annealed samples. For all samples, both the resistivity and Hall coefficient show a dramatic drop, respectively, at around 50 K–75 K, implying coexistence of superconductivity and antiferromagnetic order for the oxygen-annealed samples. The vacuum-annealed samples show both positive and negative values of MR depending on temperature, while negative MR dominates for the oxygen-annealed samples. We also found that oxygen annealing reduces the excess Fe in FeTe, which has been neglected before. The results are discussed in terms of several contributions, and a comparison is made between the oxygen-annealed FeTe thin films and FeSe1−x Te x . This work is helpful for shedding light on the understanding of oxygen-annealed FeTe thin films.