Brief Review on Iron-Based Superconductors Including Their Characteristics and Applications

The recent discovery of iron-based superconductors has evoked eagerness for extensive research on these materials because they form the second high-temperature superconductor family after the copper oxide superconductors and impart an expectation for materials with a higher transition temperature (Tc). It has also been clarified that they have peculiar physical properties including an unconventional pairing mechanism and superconducting properties preferable for application such as a high upper critical field and small anisotropy. Iron-based superconductors are the new star in the world of solid state physics. The stunning discovery of superconductivity in iron-based materials has exposed a new family of high-temperature superconductors with properties that are both similar to and different than those of the copper-oxide family of superconductors. With transition temperatures approaching the boiling point of liquid nitrogen, these materials promise to provide a rich playground to study the fundamentals of superconductivity, while advancing the prospects for widespread technological applications. In this review paper we have studied the iron-based superconductors, their classifications, different properties and applications