Effects of stoichiometry and substitution in quasi-one-dimensional iron chalcogenide BaFe 2 S 3

The effects of off-stoichiometry and elemental substitution on electronic properties of iron-based ladder compound ${\mathrm{BaFe}}_{2}{\mathrm{S}}_{3}$ are investigated. Resistivity and magnetization are revealed to be quite sensitive to the stoichiometry of Fe atoms, and 10% deficiency at Fe sites reduces the antiferromagnetic transition temperature by 40 K. The antiferromagnetic transition temperature decreases even faster and collapses to zero with hole doping through 10% K substitution at the Ba site, while the antiferromagnetic ordering phase remains with electron doping through 20% Co substitution at the Fe site. Such electron-hole asymmetry is opposite to two-dimensional iron-based superconductors, and can be explained on the basis of both itinerant and localized electronic pictures.