  The ternary iron arsenide BaFe2As2 becomes superconducting by hole doping,
which was achieved by partial substitution of the barium site with potassium.
We have discovered bulk superconductivity up to Tc = 38 K in (Ba1-xKx)Fe2As2
with x = 0.4. The parent compound BaFe2As2 as well as KFe2As2 both crystallize
in the tetragonal ThCr2Si2-type structure, which consists of (FeAs)- iron
arsenide layers separated by barium or potassium ions. BaFe2As2 is a poor metal
and exhibits a SDW anomaly at 140 K. By substituting Ba2+ for K+ ions we have
introduced holes in the (FeAs)- layers, which suppress the SDW anomaly and
induce superconductivity. This scenario is very similar to the recently
discovered arsenide-oxide superconductors. The Tc of 38 K in (Ba1-xKx)Fe2As2 is
the highest observed critical temperature in hole doped iron arsenide
superconductors so far. Therefore, we were able to expand this class of
superconductors by oxygen-free compounds with the ThCr2Si2-type structure. Our
results suggest, that superconductivity in these systems essentially evolves
from the (FeAs)- layers and may occur in other related compounds.
