Thermodynamic Signatures of Diagonal Nematicity in RbFe${}_2$As${}_2$ Superconductor

Abstract

Electronic nematic states with broken rotational symmetry often emerge in correlated materials. In most iron-based superconductors, the nematic anisotropy is oriented in the Fe-Fe direction of the iron square lattice. Recently, a novel type of nematicity along the diagonal Fe-As direction has been suggested in heavily hole-doped $A$Fe${}_2$As${}_2$ ($A=$ Rb or Cs). However, the transport studies focusing on the fluctuations of such nematicity have provided controversial results regarding the presence of diagonal nematic order. Here we report high-resolution heat capacity measurements under in-plane field rotation in RbFe${}_2$As${}_2$. While the temperature dependence of specific heat shows no discernible anomaly associated with the nematic transition, the field-angle dependence of specific heat near the superconducting transition (at $\sim 2.8$ K) reveals clear two-fold oscillations within the plane, providing thermodynamic evidence for the diagonal nematicity. Moreover, we find that Mössbauer spectroscopy sensitively probes the nematic transition at $\sim 50$ K with no evidence of static magnetism. These results imply that the diagonal nematicity in RbFe${}_2$As${}_2$ has a unique mechanism involving charge degrees of freedom, having unusual thermodynamic properties of the transition.

5 pages, 4 figures