Tests of nematic-mediated superconductivity applied to Ba${}_{1-x}$Sr${}_x$Ni${}_2$As${}_2$

Abstract

In many unconventional superconductors, nematic quantum fluctuations are strongest where the critical temperature is highest, inviting the conjecture that nematicity plays an important role in the pairing mechanism. Recently, Ba${}_{1-x}$Sr${}_x$Ni${}_2$As${}_2$ has been identified as a tunable nematic system that provides an ideal testing ground for this proposition. We therefore propose several sharp empirical tests, supported by quantitative calculations in a simple model of Ba${}_{1-x}$Sr${}_x$Ni${}_2$As${}_2$. The most stringent predictions concern experiments under uniaxial strain, which has recently emerged as a powerful tuning parameter in the study of correlated materials. Since uniaxial strain so precisely targets nematic fluctuations, such experiments may provide compelling evidence for nematic-mediated pairing, analogous to the isotope effect in conventional superconductors.

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Cited by in corpus (8)

• Pure nematic quantum critical point accompanied by a superconducting dome
• Multiple charge density waves and superconductivity nucleation at antiphase domain walls in the nematic pnictide Ba${}_{1-x}$Sr${}_x$Ni${}_2$As${}_2$
• An Electronic Nematic Liquid in BaNi${}_2$As${}_2$
• Soft-phonon and charge-density-wave formation in nematic BaNi${}_2$As${}_2$
• Phonon softening and slowing down of charge-density-wave fluctuations in BaNi${}_2$As${}_2$
• Potential Lifshitz transition at optimal substitution in nematic pnictide Ba${}_{1-x}$Sr${}_x$Ni${}_2$As${}_2$
• Quantum critical fluctuations in an Fe-based superconductor
• Nematic fluctuations mediated superconductivity revealed by anisotropic strain in Ba(Fe${}_{1-x}$Co${}_x$)${}_2$As${}_2$