Critical quadrupole fluctuations and collective modes in iron pnictide superconductors

Abstract

The multiband nature of iron pnictides gives rise to a rich temperature-doping phase diagram of competing orders and a plethora of collective phenomena. At low dopings, the tetragonal-to-orthorhombic structural transition is closely followed by a spin-density-wave transition both being in close proximity to the superconducting phase. A key question is the nature of high-Tc superconductivity and its relation to orbital ordering and magnetism. Here we study the NaFe1−xCoxAs superconductor using polarization-resolved Raman spectroscopy. The Raman susceptibility displays critical enhancement of nonsymmetric charge fluctuations across the entire phase diagram, which are precursors to a d-wave Pomeranchuk instability at temperature θ(x). The charge fluctuations are interpreted in terms of quadrupole interorbital excitations in which the electron and hole Fermi surfaces breathe in-phase. Below Tc, the critical fluctuations acquire coherence and undergo a metamorphosis into a coherent in-gap mode of extraordinary strength.

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Thorsmølle, V.K., Khodas, M., Yin, Z.P., et al.. "Critical quadrupole fluctuations and collective modes in iron pnictide superconductors." Physical Review B, 93, no. 5 (2016) American Physical Society: https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevB.93.054515.

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