Strain-activated structural anisotropy in BaFe2As2

Abstract

High-resolution single crystal neutron diffraction measurements are presented probing the magnetostructural response to uniaxial pressure in the iron pnictide parent system BaFe2As2. Scattering data reveal a strain-activated, anisotropic broadening of nuclear Bragg reflections, which increases upon cooling below the resolvable onset of global orthorhombicity. This anisotropy in lattice coherence continues to diverge until a lower temperature scale---the first-order onset of antiferromagnetism---is reached. Our data suggest that antiferromagnetism and strong magnetoelastic coupling drive the strain-activated lattice response in this material and that the development of anisotropic lattice coherence under strain is the physical origin for the anomalous nematic anisotropy in this compound.

5 pages, 4 figures

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Cited by in corpus (2)

• Elastoresistive and Elastocaloric Anomalies at Magnetic and Electronic-Nematic Critical Points
• Stress-induced nematicity in EuFe2As2 studied by phononic Raman spectroscopy