Superconductivity induced by Ni doping in BaFe2As2 single crystals

A series of 122 phase BaFe2-xNixAs2 (x=0, 0.055, 0.096, 0.18 and 0.23) single crystals was grown by the self-flux method and a dome-like Ni doping dependence of the superconducting transition temperature was discovered. The transition temperature Tcon reaches a maximum of 20.5 K at x=0.096, and it drops to below 4 K as x≥0.23. The negative thermopower in the normal state indicates that the electron-like charge carrier indeed dominates in this system. This Ni-doped system provides another example of superconductivity induced by electron doping in the 122 phase.