We investigated the superconducting transition and the pinning properties of undoped and Ag-doped FeSe 0.94 at magnetic fields up to 14 T. It was established that due to Ag addition the hexagonal phase formation in melted FeSe 0.94 samples is suppressed and the grain connectivity is strongly improved. The obtained superconducting zero-field transition becomes sharp (with a transition width below 1 K), T c and the upper critical field were found to increase, whereas the normal state resistivity significantly reduces becoming comparable with those of FeSe single crystals. In addition, a considerable magnetoresistance was observed due to Ag doping. The resistive transition of undoped and Ag-doped FeSe 0.94 is dominated by thermally activated flux flow. From the activation energy U vs H dependence, a crossover from single-vortex pinning to a collective creep pinning behavior was found with increasing the magnetic field.

Among the families of iron-based superconductors, the 11-family is one of the most attractive for high field applications at low temperatures. Optimization of the fabrication processes for bulk, crystalline and/or thin film samples is the first step in producing wires and/or tapes for practical high power conductors. Here we present the results of a comparative study of pinning properties in iron-chalcogenides, investigating the flux pinning mechanisms in optimized Fe(Se -x 1 Te x ) and FeSe samples by current-voltage characterization, magneto-resistance and magnetization measurements. In particular, from Arrhenius plots in magnetic fields up to 9 T, the activation energy is derived as a function of the magnetic field, U H , 0 ( ) whereas the activation energy as a function of temperature, U T , ( ) is derived from relaxation magnetization curves. The high pinning energies, high upper critical field versus temperature slopes near critical temperatures, and highly isotropic pinning properties make iron-chalcogenide superconductors a technological material which could be a real competitor to cuprate high temperature superconductors for high field applications.

The magnetic behavior of an iron-based FeSe crystal sample has been studied by means of dc magnetization measurements as a function of the temperature (T), the dc magnetic field (H) and the time (t). The M(T) curves show a discrepancy in the determination of the onset of the critical temperature T C with respect to what is observed in the superconducting M(H) measurements obtained by subtracting the ferromagnetic background from the curves measured at various temperatures. By using magnetic relaxation measurements M(t), the correct value of T C has been obtained. Moreover, the superconducting M(H) loops show the presence of a noisy signal up to an anomalous 'peak effect' only found for positive and negative increasing fields. These features have been analyzed by fitting the temperature dependence of the critical current density J c (T), extracted from the M(H) loops, with the help of the J c (T) dependencies governing an S-N-S junction network. This analysis has allowed us to interpret the behavior found in the M(H) loops and to obtain the value of the intrinsic critical current density J 0 which is not influenced by the presence of the junctions.