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Frandsen BA, Taddei KM, Yi M, Frano A, Guguchia Z, Yu R, Si Q, Bugaris DE, Stadel R, Osborn R, Rosenkranz S, Chmaissem O, Birgeneau RJ. Local Orthorhombicity in the Magnetic C_{4} Phase of the Hole-Doped Iron-Arsenide Superconductor Sr_{1-x}Na_{x}Fe_{2}As_{2}. PHYSICAL REVIEW LETTERS 2017; 119:187001. [PMID: 29219610 DOI: 10.1103/physrevlett.119.187001] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/09/2017] [Indexed: 06/07/2023]
Abstract
We report on temperature-dependent pair distribution function measurements of Sr_{1-x}Na_{x}Fe_{2}As_{2}, an iron-based superconductor system that contains a magnetic phase with reentrant tetragonal symmetry, known as the magnetic C_{4} phase. Quantitative refinements indicate that the instantaneous local structure in the C_{4} phase comprises fluctuating orthorhombic regions with a length scale of ∼2 nm, despite the tetragonal symmetry of the average static structure. Additionally, local orthorhombic fluctuations exist on a similar length scale at temperatures well into the paramagnetic tetragonal phase. These results highlight the exceptionally large nematic susceptibility of iron-based superconductors and have significant implications for the magnetic C_{4} phase and the neighboring C_{2} and superconducting phases.
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Affiliation(s)
- Benjamin A Frandsen
- Materials Sciences Division, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, California 94720, USA
- Department of Physics, University of California, Berkeley, California 94720, USA
| | - Keith M Taddei
- Quantum Condensed Matter Division, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, Tennessee 37831, USA
| | - Ming Yi
- Department of Physics, University of California, Berkeley, California 94720, USA
| | - Alex Frano
- Department of Physics, University of California, Berkeley, California 94720, USA
- Advanced Light Source, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, California 94720, USA
| | - Zurab Guguchia
- Department of Physics, Columbia University, New York, New York 10027, USA
| | - Rong Yu
- Department of Physics, Renmin University of China, Beijing 100872, China
- Department of Physics and Astronomy, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai 200240, China
| | - Qimiao Si
- Department of Physics and Astronomy and Rice Center for Quantum Materials, Rice University, Houston, Texas 77005, USA
| | - Daniel E Bugaris
- Materials Science Division, Argonne National Laboratory, Argonne, Illinois 60439, USA
| | - Ryan Stadel
- Materials Science Division, Argonne National Laboratory, Argonne, Illinois 60439, USA
- Department of Physics, Northern Illinois University, DeKalb, Illinois 60439, USA
| | - Raymond Osborn
- Materials Science Division, Argonne National Laboratory, Argonne, Illinois 60439, USA
| | - Stephan Rosenkranz
- Materials Science Division, Argonne National Laboratory, Argonne, Illinois 60439, USA
| | - Omar Chmaissem
- Materials Science Division, Argonne National Laboratory, Argonne, Illinois 60439, USA
- Department of Physics, Northern Illinois University, DeKalb, Illinois 60439, USA
| | - Robert J Birgeneau
- Materials Sciences Division, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, California 94720, USA
- Department of Physics, University of California, Berkeley, California 94720, USA
- Department of Materials Science and Engineering, University of California, Berkeley, California 94720, USA
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