The transport-structural correspondence across the nematic phase transition probed by elasto-x-ray diffraction

Abstract

Electronic nematicity in iron pnictide materials is coupled to both the lattice and the conducting electrons, which allows both structural and transport observables to probe nematic fluctuations and the order parameter. Here we combine simultaneous transport and x-ray diffraction measurements with in-situ tunable strain (elasto-XRD) to measure the temperature dependence of the shear modulus and elastoresistivity above the nematic transition and the spontaneous orthorhombicity and resistivity anisotropy below the nematic transition, all within a single sample of $Ba(F{e}_{0.96}C{o}_{0.04}{)}_{2}A{s}_2$. The ratio of transport to structural quantities is nearly temperature-independent over a 74 K range and agrees between the ordered and disordered phases. These results show that elasto-XRD is a powerful technique to probe the nemato-elastic and nemato-transport couplings, which have important implications to the nearby superconductivity. It also enables the measurement in the large strain limit, where the breakdown of mean field description reveals the intertwined nature of nematicity.

Main text 10 pages, 4 figures

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Cited by in corpus (7)

• Elastoresistivity in the incommensurate charge density wave phase of BaNi${}_{\text{2}}$(As${}_{\text{1-x}}$P${}_{\text{x}}$)${}_{\text{2}}$
• Spontaneous orbital polarization in the nematic phase of FeSe
• Strongly anisotropic antiferromagnetic coupling in EuFe2As2 revealed by stress detwinning
• Strain control of a bandwidth-driven spin reorientation in Ca${}_3$Ru${}_2$O${}_7$
• Nematic fluctuations mediated superconductivity revealed by anisotropic strain in Ba(Fe${}_{1-x}$Co${}_x$)${}_2$As${}_2$
• Elasto-Raman scattering: arsenic optical phonon as a probe of nematicity in BaFe${}_2$As${}_2$
• Vortices in a Ginzburg Landau Theory of Superconductors with Nematic Order