Discovery of mesoscopic nematicity wave in iron-based superconductors

Abstract

Nematicity is ubiquitous in electronic phases of high transition temperature superconductors, particularly in iron-based superconductors (IBSCs). Order parameter that characterizes the nematic phase has been investigated in momentum space, but its real-space arrangement remains largely unclear. We use linear dichroism (LD) in low-temperature laser-photoemission electron microscope to map out the nematic order parameter of nonmagentic FeSe and antiferromagnetic BaFe2(As0.87P0.13)2. In contrast to the structural domains that have atomic-scale domain walls, the LD patterns in both materials show peculiar sinusoidal waves of electronic nematicity with mesoscopic wavelength. The analysis reveals that the nematic order has an extremely long coherence length, more than 1000 times longer than the unit cell. Our direct visualization of electronic spatial variation uncovers a new fundamental aspect of quantum liquid crystalline states of correlated electrons in IBSCs.

arXiv comment15 pages, 4 figures, Supplementary materials

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• Enhanced Phonon-Phonon Interactions and Weakened Electron-Phonon Coupling in Charge-Density-Wave Topological Semimetal EuAl4 with a Possible Intermediate Electronic State
• Transport evidence for twin-boundary pinning of superconducting vortices in FeSe
• Coherence Length of Electronic Nematicity in Iron-Based Superconductors
• Atomic-scale imaging of electronic nematicity in ferropnictides
• Energy-Resolved Real-Space Imaging of Orbital Nematicity in an Fe-Based Superconductor