A comparative study on the thermoelectric effect of parent oxypnictides LaTAsO (T = Fe, Ni)

The thermopower and Nernst effect were investigated for undoped parent compounds LaFeAsO and LaNiAsO. Both the thermopower and Nernst signal in iron-based LaFeAsO are significantly larger than those in nickel-based LaNiAsO. Furthermore, abrupt changes in both the thermopower and Nernst effect are observed below the structural phase transition temperature and spin-density wave (SDW) type antiferromagnetic (AFM) order temperature in Fe-based LaFeAsO. On the other hand, the Nernst effect is very small in the Ni-based LaNiAsO and it is weakly temperature-dependent, reminiscent of the case in normal metals. We suggest that the effect of SDW order on the spin scattering rate should play an important role in the anomalous temperature dependence of the Hall effect and Nernst effect in LaFeAsO. The contrasting behaviour between the LaFeAsO and LaNiAsO systems implies that the LaFeAsO system is fundamentally different from the LaNiAsO system and this may provide clues to the mechanism of high Tc superconductivity in Fe-based systems. (fast track communication)