Strain tuning and anisotropic spin correlations in iron-based systems

Abstract

Nematic order in the iron-based superconductors is closely tied to a lattice distortion and a structural transition from tetragonal to orthorhombic symmetry. External stress of the appropriate symmetry acts as a conjugate field of the nematic order parameter and can be utilized to detwin nematic domains but also smears an otherwise sharp nematic transition. On the other hand, applying stress in proper symmetry channels allows one to tune the nematic phase transition. Recent experiments analyzed the stress-induced changes of the nematic and magnetic phase transition temperature. Here we show that the observed trends can be understood in terms of spin-induced nematicity. The strain sensitivity is shown to be a fluctuation effect. The strong sensitivity to antisymmetric strain is a consequence of the anisotropic nature of the magnetic excitation spectrum. The formalism presented here can be naturally generalized to determine the strain-sensitivity of vestigial phases related to other magnetic states that have been observed in the iron-based systems, such as e.g. the spin-charge density wave and the spin-vortex crystals.Recently, Ikeda et al. [22] investigated the impact of strain on the nematic and magnetic phase transitions of arXiv:1904.05583v2 [cond-mat.str-el]

Strain tuning of nematicity and superconductivity in single crystals of FeSe

“…Electrical connections were made using indium soldering in a five-point-contact configuration for magnetotransport measurements. The current flows parallel to the direction of the applied stress, which is the [110] direction (Fe-Fe bonds) in the tetragonal symmetry and corresponds to the B 2g symmetry channel [29]. Strain experiments were performed using a CS100 cell from Razorbill [30].…”

“…FeSe crystals, with typical dimensions of ≈1100 × 500 × 60 μm 3 , were cut into a rectangular shape along the [110] tetragonal direction, which corresponds to applying strain along the B 2g symmetry channel [29], and mounted on the CS100 uniaxial strain cell. The amount of nominal stress applied, ε external = L/L 0 , is defined as the displacement L = L(T )-L 0 (T ) divided by the unstrained length L 0 of the sample.…”

Strain-tuning of nematicity and superconductivity in single crystals of FeSe

“…Electrical connections were made using indium soldering in a 5 point-contact configuration for magneto-transport measurements. The current flows parallel to the direction of the applied stress, which is the [110] direction (Fe-Fe bonds) in the tetragonal symmetry and corresponds to the B 2g symmetry channel 29 . Strain experiments were performed using a CS100 cell from Razorbill 30 .…”

“…FeSe crystals, with typical dimensions of ≈ 1100×500×60 µm 3 , were cut into a rectangular shape along the [110] tetragonal direction, which corresponds applying strain along the B 2g symmetry channel 29 , and mounted on the CS100 uniaxial strain cell. The amount of nominal stress applied, ε external = ∆L/L 0 , is defined as the displacement ∆L= L(T )-L 0 (T ) divided by the unstrained length L 0 of the sample.…”