Emergent XY electronic nematicity in iron-based superconductors

Abstract

Electronic nematicity, a correlated state that spontaneously breaks rotational symmetry, is observed in several layered quantum materials. In contrast to their liquid-crystal counterparts, the nematic director cannot usually point in an arbitrary direction (XY nematics), but is locked by the crystal to discrete directions (Ising nematics),resulting in strongly anisotropic fluctuations above the transition. Here, we report on the observation of nearly isotropic XY-nematic fluctuations, via elastoresistance measurements, in hole-doped Ba${}_{1-x}$Rb${}_x$Fe${}_2$As${}_2$ iron-based superconductors. While for $x=0$ the nematic director points along the in-plane diagonals of the tetragonal lattice, for $x=1$ it points along the horizontal and vertical axes. Remarkably, for intermediate doping, the susceptibilities of these two symmetry-irreducible nematic channels display comparable Curie-Weiss behavior, thus revealing a nearly XY-nematic state. This opens a new route to assess this elusive electronic quantum liquid-crystalline state, which is a candidate to host unique phenomena not present in the Ising-nematic case.

arXiv comment8 pages, 6 figures

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• Unconventional density waves and superconductivities in Fe-based superconductors and other strongly correlated electron systems
• A Rigorous Formalism of Unconventional Symmetry Breaking in Fermi Liquid Theory and Its Application to Nematicity in FeSe
• Bond Directional Anapole Order in a Spin-Orbit Coupled Mott Insulator Sr${}_2$(Ir${}_{1-x}$Rh${}_x$)O${}_4$
• Emerging symmetric strain response and weakening nematic fluctuations in strongly hole-doped iron-based superconductors
• Hidden antiferro-nematic order in Fe-based superconductor BaFe${}_2$As${}_2$ and NaFeAs above $T_S$
• Elastoresistance measurements on CaKFe${}_4$As${}_4$ and KCa${}_2$Fe${}_4$As${}_4$F${}_2$ with the Fe site of $C_{2v}$ symmetry
• Dominant in-plane symmetric elastoresistance in CsFe2As2
• Valley-polarized nematic order in twisted moiré systems: In-plane orbital magnetism and non-Fermi liquid to Fermi liquid crossover
• Colossal transverse magnetoresistance due to nematic superconducting phase fluctuations in a copper oxide
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• $d$- and $p$-wave quantum liquid crystal orders in cuprate superconductors, $\kappa$-(BEDT-TTF)${}_2$X, and coupled chain Hubbard models: functional-renormalization-group analysis
• Nematic fluctuations in the non-superconducting iron pnictide BaFe${}_{1.9-x}$Ni${}_{0.1}$Cr${}_x$As${}_2$
• Charge Transport in Ba${}_{1-x}$Rb${}_x$Fe${}_2$As${}_2$ Single Crystals
• Diverse Exotic Orders and Fermiology in Fe-based Superconductors: A Unified Mechanism for $B_{1g}/B_{2g}$ Nematicity in FeSe/(Cs,Rb)Fe${}_2$As${}_2$ and Smectic Order in BaFe${}_2$As${}_2$
• Elastoresistivity of heavily hole doped 122 iron pnictides superconductors
• Laser induced $\mathcal{P}\mathcal{T}$-symmetry breaking in the fluctuations of electronic fluids
• Ubiquity of rotational symmetry breaking in superconducting films, from Fe(Te,Se)/Bi${}_2$Te${}_3$ to Nb, and the effect of measurement geometry
• Cuprates, Pnictides and Sulfosalts: Lessons in Functional Materials
• Acoustic lattice instabilities at the magneto-structural transition in Fe${}_{1.057(7)}$Te
• Energy-Resolved Real-Space Imaging of Orbital Nematicity in an Fe-Based Superconductor
• Microscopic origin of period-four stripe charge-density-wave in kagome metal CsV${}_3$Sb${}_5$