Anisotropic magnetism, resistivity, London penetration depth and magneto-optical imaging of superconducting K0.80Fe1.76Se2 single crystals

Single crystals of K0.80Fe1.76Se2 were successfully grown from a ternary solution. We show that, although crystals form when cooling a near-stoichiometric melt, crystals are actually growing out of a ternary solution that remains liquid to at least 850 0C. We investigated their chemical composition, anisotropic magnetic susceptibility and resistivity, specific heat, thermoelectric power, London penetration depth and flux penetration via magneto-optical imaging. Whereas the samples appear to be homogeneously superconducting at low temperatures, there appears to be a broadened transition range close to Tc ∼ 30 K that may be associated with small variations in stoichiometry.