The behavior of grain boundaries in the Fe-based superconductors

The Fe-based superconductors (FBSs) are an important new class of superconducting materials. As with any new superconductor with a high transition temperature and upper critical field, there is a need to establish what their applications potential might be. Applications require high critical current densities, so the usefulness of any new superconductor is determined both by the capability to develop strong vortex pinning and by the absence or ability to overcome any strong current-limiting mechanisms of which grain boundaries (GBs) in the cuprates are a cautionary example. In this review we first consider the positive role that GB properties play in the metallic, low-temperature superconductors and then review the theoretical background and current experimental data relating to the properties of GBs in FBS polycrystals, bicrystal thin films and wires. Based on this evidence, we conclude that GBs in FBS are weak linked in a qualitatively similar way to GBs in the cuprate superconductors, but also that the effects are a little less marked. Initial experiments with the textured substrates used for cuprate coated conductors show similar benefit for the critical current density of FBS thin films too. We also note that the particular richness of the pairing symmetry and the multiband parent state in FBS may provide opportunities for GB modification as a better understanding of their pairing state and GB properties are developed. (Some figures may appear in colour only in the online journal)