Evidence of a structural phase transition in superconducting SmFeAsO1−xFx from 19F NMR

We report resistivity, magnetization and 19F NMR results in a polycrystalline sample of SmFeAsO0.86F0.14. The resistivity and magnetization data show a sharp drop at 48 K indicating a superconducting transition. The nuclear spin–lattice rate (1/T1) and spin–spin relaxation rate (1/T2) clearly show the existence of a structural phase transition near 163 K in the sample, which also undergoes a superconducting transition. This finding creates interest in exploring whether this is unique for Sm based systems or is also present in other rare-earth based 1111 superconductors.