Y 89 NMR observation of ferromagnetic and antiferromagnetic spin fluctuations in the collapsed tetragonal phase of YFe2 (Ge,Si) 2

The surprising discovery of tripling the superconducting critical temperature of KFe2As2 at high pressures has led to an intriguing question of how the superconductivity in the collapsed tetragonal phase differs from that in the noncollapsed phases of Fe-based superconductors. Here we report a Y89 nuclear magnetic resonance study of YFe2GexSi2-x compounds whose electronic structure is similar to that of iron-pnictide collapsed tetragonal phases already at ambient pressure. We find that Fe(Ge,Si) layers show ferromagnetic spin fluctuations, whereas the layers are coupled antiferromagnetically. Furthermore, localized moments attributed either to Fe interstitial or antisite defects may account for magnetic impurity pair-breaking effects, thus explaining the substantial variation of superconductivity among different YFe2Ge2 samples.