Influence of microstructure on superconductivity in K(x)Fe(2−y)Se(2) and evidence for a new parent phase K(2)Fe(7)Se(8)

The search for new superconducting materials has been spurred on by the discovery of iron-based superconductors whose structure and composition is qualitatively different from the cuprates. The study of one such material, K(x)Fe(2−y)Se(2) with a critical temperature of 32 K, is made more difficult by the fact that it separates into two phases—a dominant antiferromagnetic insulating phase K(2)Fe(4)Se(5), and a minority superconducting phase whose precise structure is as yet unclear. Here we perform electrical and magnetization measurements, scanning electron microscopy and microanalysis, X-ray diffraction and scanning tunnelling microscopy on K(x)Fe(2−y)Se(2) crystals prepared under different quenching processes to better understand the relationship between its microstructure and its superconducting phase. We identify a three-dimensional network of superconducting filaments within this material and present evidence to suggest that the superconducting phase consists of a single Fe vacancy for every eight Fe-sites arranged in a √8 x √10 parallelogram structure.