Thermal properties of SmFeAsO1-xFx as a probe of the iterplay between electrons and phonons

Description

A comparative study of thermal properties of SmFeAsO, SmFeAsO0.93F0.07, and SmFeAsO0.85F0.15 samples is presented. Specific heat and thermal conductivity show clear evidence of the spin-density wave SDW ordering below TSDW135 K in undoped SmFeAsO. At low level of F doping, SmFeAsO0.93F0.07, SDW ordering is suppressed and superconducting features are not yet optimally developed in both specific heat and thermal conductivity. At optimal level of F-doping SmFeAsO0.85F0.15 anomalies related to the superconducting transition are well noticeable. By a compared analysis of doped and undoped samples we conclude that despite the fact that F doping modifies definitely the electronic ground state, it does not substantially alter phonon and electron parameters, such as phonon modes, Sommerfeld coefficient, and electro-phonon coupling. The analysis of the thermal conductivity curves provides an evaluation of the SDW and superconducting energy gap, showing that phonons can suitably probe features of the electronic ground state.

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