New high-temperature superconductors based on rare earth and transition metal oxyarsenides and related phases: synthesis, properties and simulation

The discovery in February 2008 of superconductivity with a transition temperature of about 26 K in fluorine-doped oxyarsenide $\mathrm{LaO}_{1-x}\mathrm{F}_x\mathrm{FeAs}$ has stimulated enormous interest in and numerous studies of the superconducting and other physical properties of this material, resulting in a new family of high-temperature ($T_c\sim{}$26–55 K) superconductors based on layered rare earth and transition metal oxypnictides. The experimental and theoretical state of the art is reviewed concerning the synthesis, properties and simulation of the new family and related systems.