[en] We have investigated the electronic, magnetic, and optical properties of two Fe-based superconductors and related parent compounds via three powerful techniques: scanning tunneling microscopy/spectroscopy (STM/S), high-temperature vibrating sample magnetometer (VSM), and optical transmission spectroscopy (OTS). Below the superconducting transition temperature Tc ∼ 48 K, the STM/S of polycrystalline NdFeAsO0.86F0.14 reveals a single-gap feature. The quantitative fitting of STS data results in BCS like temperature dependence of the energy gap (T), with 2 (0)/kBTc ∼ 4.3. Surprisingly, the tunneling spectra of BaFe2As2 single crystals show no evidence for the opening of a gap below its magnetic/structural transition temperature TMS ∼ 140 K. This transition also had little impact on the transmission spectra in the wavelength range between 400 and 2400 nm. But its effect to the magnetic properties is dramatic, as reflected by the unusual magnetic susceptibility in a wide temperature range.