Local Orthorhombicity in the Magnetic ${C}_{4}$ Phase of the Hole-Doped Iron-Arsenide Superconductor ${\mathrm{Sr}}_{1\ensuremath{-}x}{\mathrm{Na}}_{x}{\mathrm{Fe}}_{2}{\mathrm{As}}_{2}$

Abstract

We report on temperature-dependent pair distribution function measurements of Sr1−xNaxFe2As2, an iron-based superconductor system that contains a magnetic phase with reentrant tetragonal symmetry, known as the magnetic C4 phase. Quantitative refinements indicate that the instantaneous local structure in the C4 phase comprises fluctuating orthorhombic regions with a length scale of ∼2 nm, despite the tetragonal symmetry of the average static structure. Additionally, local orthorhombic fluctuations exist on a similar length scale at temperatures well into the paramagnetic tetragonal phase. These results highlight the exceptionally large nematic susceptibility of iron-based superconductors and have significant implications for the magnetic C4 phase and the neighboring C2 and superconducting phases.

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Frandsen, Benjamin A., Taddei, Keith M., Yi, Ming, et al.. "Local Orthorhombicity in the Magnetic C4 Phase of the Hole-Doped Iron-Arsenide Superconductor Sr1\ensuremath−xNaxFe2As2." Physical Review Letters, 119, no. 18 (2017) American Physical Society: https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.119.187001.

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