Impact of the first order antiferromagnetic phase transition on the paramagnetic spin excitations and nematic phase of SrFe${}_2$As${}_2$

Abstract

Understanding the nature of the electronic nematic phase in iron pnictide superconductors is important for elucidating its impact on high-temperature superconductivity. Here we use transport and inelastic neutron scattering to study spin excitations and in-plane resistivity anisotropy in uniaxial pressure detwinned BaFe${}_2$As${}_2$ and SrFe${}_2$As${}_2$, the parent compounds of iron pnictide superconductors. While BaFe${}_2$As${}_2$ exhibits weakly first order tetragonal-to-orthorhombic structural and antiferromagnetic (AF) phase transitions below $T_s>T_N\approx 138$ K, SrFe${}_2$As${}_2$ has strongly coupled first order structural and AF transitions below $T_s=T_N\approx 210$ K. We find that the direct signatures of the nematic phase persist to lower temperatures above the phase transition in the case of SrFe${}_2$As${}_2$ compared to BaFe${}_2$As${}_2$. Our findings support the conclusion that the strongly first-order nature of the magnetic transition in SrFe${}_2$As${}_2$ weakens the nematic phase and resistivity anisotropy in the system.

9 pages, 8 figures

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Cited by in corpus (5)

• Orbital-selective spin waves in detwinned NaFeAs
• Spectral Evidence for Unidirectional Charge Density Wave in Detwinned BaNi${}_2$As${}_2$
• Nematic fluctuations in the non-superconducting iron pnictide BaFe${}_{1.9-x}$Ni${}_{0.1}$Cr${}_x$As${}_2$
• Electronic Phase Propagation Speed in BaFe${}_2$As${}_2$ Revealed by Dilatometry
• Signatures of three-state Potts nematicity in spin excitations of the van der Waals antiferromagnet FePSe${}_3$