Comparative study of vortex dynamics in CaKFe4As4 and Ba0.6K0.4Fe2As2 single crystals

We investigate the vortex dynamics in two typical hole doped iron based superconductors CaKFe4As4(CaK1144) and Ba0.6K0.4Fe2As2(BaK122) with similar superconducting transition temperatures. It is found that the magnetization hysteresis loop exhibits a clear second peak effect in BaK122 in wide temperature region while it is absent in CaK1144. However, a second peak effect of critical current density versus temperature is observed in CaK1144, which is however absent in BaK122. The different behaviors of second peak effect in BaK122 and CaK1144 may suggest distinct origins of vortex pinning in different systems. Magnetization and its relaxation have also been measured by using dynamical and conventional relaxation methods for both systems. Analysis and comparison of the two distinct systems show that the vortex pinning is stronger and the critical current density is higher in BaK122 system. It is found that the Maley’s method can be used and thus the activation energy can be determined in BaK122 by using the time dependent magnetization in wide temperature region, but this is not applicable in CaK1144 system.Finally we present the different regimes with distinct vortex dynamics in the field-temperature diagram for the two systems.