No Arabic abstract
The origin of diverse nematicity and their order parameters in Fe-based superconductors have been attracting increasing attention. Recently, a new type of nematic order has been discovered in heavily hole-doped ($n_d=5.5$) compound AFe$_2$As$_2$ (A=Cs, Rb). The discovered nematicity has $B_{2g}$ (=$d_{xy}$) symmetry, rotated by $45^circ$ from the $B_{1g}$ (=$d_{x^2-y^2}$) nematicity in usual compounds with $n_dapprox6$. We predict that the nematic bond order, which is the symmetry-breaking of the correlated hopping, is responsible for the $B_{2g}$ nematic order in AFe$_2$As$_2$. The Dirac pockets in AFe$_2$As$_2$ is essential to stabilize the $B_{2g}$ bond order. Both $B_{1g}$ and $B_{2g}$ nematicity in A$_{1-x}$Ba$_x$Fe$_2$As$_2$ are naturally induced by the Aslamazov-Larkin many-body process, which describes the spin-fluctuation-driven charge instability. The present study gives a great hint to control the nature of charge nematicity by modifying the orbital character and the topology of the Fermi surface.
We discuss the results of $^{75}$As Nuclear Quadrupole Resonance (NQR) and muon spin relaxation measurements in AFe$_2$As$_2$ (A= Cs, Rb) iron-based superconductors. We demonstrate that the crossover detected in the nuclear spin-lattice relaxation rate $1/T_1$ (around 150 K in RbFe$_2$As$_2$ and around 75 K in CsFe$_2$As$_2$), from a high temperature nearly localized to a low temperature delocalized behaviour, is associated with the onset of an inhomogeneous local charge distribution causing the broadening or even the splitting of the NQR spectra as well as an increase in the muon spin relaxation rate. We argue that this crossover, occurring at temperatures well above the phase transition to the nematic long-range order, is associated with a charge disproportionation at the Fe sites induced by competing Hunds and Coulomb couplings. In RbFe$_2$As$_2$ around 35 K, far below that crossover temperature, we observe a peak in the NQR $1/T_1$ which is possibly associated with the critical slowing down of electronic nematic fluctuations on approaching the transition to the nematic long-range order.
The magnetic properties of iron-based superconductors $A$Fe$_2$As$_2$ ($A=$K, Cs, and Rb), which are characterized by the V-shaped dependence of the critical temperature ($T_{rm c}$) on pressure ($P$) were studied by means of the muon spin rotation/relaxation technique. In all three systems studied the magnetism was found to appear for pressures slightly below the critical one ($P_{rm c}$), i.e. at pressure where $T_{rm c}(P)$ changes the slope. Rather than competing, magnetism and superconductivity in $A$Fe$_2$As$_2$ are coexisting at $Pgtrsim P_{rm c}$ pressure region. Our results support the scenario of a transition from one pairing state to another, with different symmetries on either side of $P_{rm c}$.
In several Fe-based superconductors, slight $C_4$ symmetry breaking occurs at $T^*$, which is tens of Kelvin higher than the structural transition temperature $T_S$. In this hidden nematic state at $T_S<T<T^*$, the orthorhombicity is tiny [$phi=(a-b)/(a+b) ll 0.1$%], but clear evidences of bulk phase transition have been accumulated. To explain this long-standing mystery, we propose the emergence of antiferro-bond (AFB) order with the antiferro wavevector ${bf q}=(0,pi)$ at $T=T^*$, by which the characteristic phenomena below $T^*$ are satisfactorily explained. This AFB order originates from the inter-orbital nesting between the $d_{xy}$-orbital hole-pocket and the electron-pocket, and this inter-orbital bond order naturally explains the pseudogap, band-folding, and tiny nematicity that is linear in $T^*-T$. The hidden AFB order explains key experiments in both BaFe$_2$As$_2$ and NaFeAs, but it is not expected to occur in FeSe because of the absence of the $d_{xy}$-orbital hole-pocket.
The interplay of high and low-energy mass renormalizations with band-shifts reflected by the positions of van Hove singularities (VHS) in the normal state spectra of the highest hole-overdoped and strongly correlated AFe$_2$As$_2$ (A122) with A = K, Cs is discussed phenomenologically based on ARPES data and GGA band-structure calculations with full spin-orbit coupling. The big increase of the Sommerfeld coefficient $gamma$ from K122 to Cs122 is ascribed to an enhanced coupling to low-energy bosons in the vicinity of a quantum critical point to an unknown, yet incommensurate phase different from the commensurate Mott one. We find no sizeable increase in correlations for Cs122 in contrast to F. Eilers et al., PRL v. 116, 237003 (2016) [3]. The empirical (ARPES) VHS positions as compared with GGA-predictions point even to slightly weaker correlations in Cs122 in accord with low-$T$ magnetic susceptibility $chi(T)$ data and a decreasing Wilson ratio $propto chi(0)/gamma$.
A remarkable several times increase (up to 10 K) of the superconducting critical temperature Tc has been observed in point contacts created on the base of single crystals AFe$_2$As$_2$ (A = K, Cs, Rb). Possible reasons for such a Tc increase in point contacts are briefly discussed on a qualitative level. Among them, it is most likely attributed to interfacial carrier doping and/or uniaxial non-homogeneous pressure arising when the contact is created.