Materials chemistry of BaFe₂As₂: A model platform for unconventional superconductivity

BaFc₂As₂ is the parent compound of a family of unconventional superconductors with critical temperatures approaching 40 K. BaFe₂As₂ is structurally simple, available as high-quality large crystals, can be both hole and electron doped, and is amenable to first-principles electronic structure calculations. BaFe₂As ₂ has a rich and flexible materials chemistry that makes it an ideal model platform for the study of unconventional superconductivity. The key properties of this family of materials are briefly reviewed.