Hall effect of FeTe and Fe(Se1–xTex) thin films

The Hall effect is investigated in thin-film samples of iron–chalcogenide superconductors in detail. The Hall coefficient (RH) of FeTe and Fe(Se1–xTex) exhibits a similar positive value around 300 K, indicating that the high-temperature normal state is dominated by hole-channel transport. FeTe exhibits a sign reversal from positive to negative across the transition to the low-temperature antiferromagnetic state, indicating the occurrence of drastic reconstruction in the band structure. The mobility analysis using the carrier density theoretically calculated reveals that the mobility of holes is strongly suppressed to zero, and hence the electric transport looks to be dominated by electrons. The Se substitution to Te suppresses the antiferromagnetic long-range order and induces superconductivity instead. The similar mobility analysis for Fe(Se0.4Te0.6) and Fe(Se0.5Te0.5) thin films shows that the mobility of electrons increases with decreasing temperature even in the paramagnetic state, and keeps sufficiently high values down to the superconducting transition temperature. From the comparison between FeTe and Fe(Se1–xTex), it is suggested that the coexistence of ‘itinerant’ carriers both in electron and hole channels is indispensable for the occurrence of superconductivity.

► Hall-effect measurements are performed in high-quality FeSe1–xTex thin films.
► Mobility in hole channel is suppressed to zero in nonsuperconducting FeTe.
► Finite hole mobility is preserved in superconducting FeSe1–xTex.
► Itinerancy is necessary in both electron and hole channels for superconductivity.