  A fast and furnace-free method of combustion synthesis is employed for the
first time to synthesize iron-based superconductors. Using this method,
Fe1.1Se1-xTex (0<=x<=1) samples can be prepared from self-sustained reactions
of element powders in only tens of seconds. The obtained Fe1.1Se1-xTex samples
show clear zero resistivity and corresponding magnetic susceptibility drop at
around 10-14 K. The Fe1.1Se0.33Te0.67 sample shows the highest onset Tc of
about 14 K, and its upper critical field is estimated to be approximately 54 T.
Compared with conventional solid state reaction for preparing polycrystalline
FeSe samples, combustion synthesis exhibits much-reduced time and energy
consumption, but offers comparable superconducting properties. It is expected
that the combustion synthesis method is available for preparing plenty of
iron-based superconductors, and in this direction further related work is in
progress.
