Poisoning effect of Mn in LaFe1-xMnxAsO0.89F0.11: Unveiling a quantum critical point in the phase diagram of iron-based superconductors

A superconducting-to-magnetic transition is reported for LaFeAsO 0.89 F 0.11 where a per-thousand amount of Mn impurities is dispersed. By employing local spectroscopic techniques like muon spin rotation (μSR) and nuclear quadrupole resonance (NQR) on compounds with Mn contents ranging from x = 0.025% to x = 0.75 %, we find that the electronic properties are extremely sensitive to the Mn impurities. In fact, a small amount of Mn as low as 0.2% suppresses superconductivity completely. Static magnetism, involving the FeAs planes, is observed to arise for x > 0.1% and becomes further enhanced upon increasing Mn substitution. Also a progressive increase of low-energy spin fluctuations, leading to an enhancement of the NQR spin-lattice relaxation rate T 1 −1 , is observed upon Mn substitution. The analysis of T 1 −1 for the sample closest to the crossover between superconductivity and magnetism (x = 0.2%) points toward the presence of an antiferromagnetic quantum critical point around that doping level.