Intermittent dynamics of antiferromagnetic phase in inhomogeneous iron-based chalcogenide superconductor

Abstract

Coexistence of phases, characterized by different electronic degrees of freedom, commonly occurs in layered superconductors. Among them, alkaline intercalated chalcogenides are model systems showing microscale coexistence of paramagnetic (PAR) and antiferromagnetic (AFM) phases, however, temporal behavior of different phases is still unknown. Here, we report the first visualization of the atomic motion in the granular phase of K${}_x$Fe${}_{2-y}$Se${}_2$ using X-ray photon correlation spectroscopy. Unlike the PAR phase, the AFM texture reveals an intermittent dynamics with avalanches as in martensites. When cooled down across the superconducting transition temperature T${}_c$, the AFM phase goes through an anomalous slowing behavior suggesting a direct relationship between the atomic motions in the AFM phase and the superconductivity. In addition of providing a compelling evidence of avalanche-like dynamics in a layered superconductor, the results provide a basis for new theoretical models to describe quantum states in inhomogeneous solids.

arXiv comment6 pages, 3 figures

References in corpus (25)

• Antiferromagnetic order and spin dynamics in iron-based superconductors
• Fe-based high temperature superconductivity with Tc=31K bordering an insulating antiferromagnet in (Tl,K)FexSe2 Crystals
• Inhomogeneity of charge density wave order and quenched disorder in a high Tc superconductor
• Phase Separation and Magnetic Order in K-doped Iron Selenide Superconductor
• Atomic-scale relaxation dynamics and aging in a metallic glass probed by X-ray photon correlation spectroscopy
• Nanoscale phase separation in the iron chalcogenide superconductor K0.8Fe1.6Se2 as seen via scanning nanofocused x-ray diffraction
• Microstructure and Fe-vacancy ordering in the KFexSe2 superconducting system
• Electronic identification of the actual parental phase of KxFe2-ySe2 superconductor and its intrinsic mesoscopic phase separation
• X-Ray Photon Correlation Spectroscopy Reveals Intermittent Aging Dynamics in a Metallic Glass
• Transport properties of the new Fe-based superconductor KxFe2Se2 (Tc = 33 K)
• Intrinsic phase separation in superconducting K0.8Fe1.6Se2 (Tc= 31.8 K) single crystals
• Nanoscale phase separation of antiferromagnetic order and superconductivity in K${}_{0.75}$Fe${}_{1.75}$Se${}_2$
• Superconductivity and Magnetic Properties of high-quality single crystals of $A_x$Fe${}_2$Se${}_2$ ($A$ = K and Cs)
• Compressed correlation functions and fast aging dynamics in metallic glasses
• Speckle from phase ordering systems
• Direct observation of nanoscale interface phase in the superconducting chalcogenide K${}_x$Fe${}_{2-y}$Se${}_2$ with intrinsic phase separation
• Avalanches mediate crystallization in a hard-sphere glass
• Intrinsic arrested nanoscale phase separation near a topological Lifshitz transition in strongly correlated two-band metals
• Spectromicroscopy of electronic phase separation in K${}_x$Fe${}_{2-y}$Se${}_2$ superconductor
• Topological rearrangements and stress fluctuations in quasi-two-dimensional hopper flow of emulsions
• Percolative superconductivity in La2CuO4.06 by lattice granularity patterns with scanning micro X-ray absorption near edge structure
• Temperature dependence of iron local magnetic moment in phase-separated superconducting chalcogenide
• Direct Observation of Microstructures on Superconducting Single Crystals of K${}_x$Fe${}_{2-y}$Se${}_2$
• Dislocations as a boundary between charge density wave and oxygen rich phases in a cuprate high temperature superconductor
• Suppression of the antiferromagnetic order when approaching the superconducting state in a phase-separated crystal of K${}_x$Fe${}_{2-y}$Se${}_2$

Cited by in corpus (5)

• Structural, magnetic, and electronic evolution of the spin-ladder system BaFe${}_2$S${}_{3-x}$Se${}_x$ with isoelectronic substitution
• Cuprate Twistronics for Quantum Hardware
• Real-space observation of emergent complexity of phase evolution in micrometer-sized IrTe${}_2$ crystals
• In situ coherent X-ray scattering reveals polycrystalline structure and discrete annealing events in strongly-coupled nanocrystal superlattices
• Data-driven discovery of dynamics from time-resolved coherent scattering