Magnetic-superconducting phase boundary of SmFeAsO1−xFx studied via muon spin rotation: Unified behavior in a pnictide family

We present Muon spectroscopy investigations on SmFeAsO1−xFx showing coexistence of magnetic order and superconductivity only in a very narrow F-doping range. The sharp crossover between the two types of order is similar to that observed in LaFeAsO1−xFx, suggesting a common behavior for the 1111 pnictides. The analysis of the muon asymmetry demonstrates that the coexistence must be nanoscopic, i.e., the two phases must be finely interspersed over a typical length scale of few nm. In this regime both the magnetic and the superconducting transition temperatures collapse to very low values. Our data suggest a competition between the two order parameters.