RESUMEN
The kagome materials AV_{3}Sb_{5} (A=K, Rb, Cs) host an intriguing interplay between unconventional superconductivity and charge-density waves. Here, we investigate CsV_{3}Sb_{5} by combining high-resolution thermal-expansion, heat-capacity, and electrical resistance under strain measurements. We directly unveil that the superconducting and charge-ordered states strongly compete, and that this competition is dramatically influenced by tuning the crystallographic c axis. In addition, we report the absence of additional bulk phase transitions within the charge-ordered state, notably associated with rotational symmetry breaking within the kagome planes. This suggests that any breaking of the C_{6} invariance occurs via different stacking of C_{6}-symmetric kagome patterns. Finally, we find that the charge-density-wave phase exhibits an enhanced A_{1g}-symmetric elastoresistance coefficient, whose large increase at low temperature is driven by electronic degrees of freedom.
RESUMEN
Understanding the organizing principles of interacting electrons and the emergence of novel electronic phases is a central endeavor of condensed matter physics. Electronic nematicity, in which the discrete rotational symmetry in the electron fluid is broken while the translational one remains unaffected, is a prominent example of such a phase. It has proven ubiquitous in correlated electron systems, and is of prime importance to understand Fe-based superconductors. Here, we find that fluctuations of such broken symmetry are exceptionally strong over an extended temperature range above phase transitions in [Formula: see text], the nickel homologue to the Fe-based systems. This lends support to a type of electronic nematicity, dynamical in nature, which exhibits a particularly strong coupling to the underlying crystal lattice. Fluctuations between degenerate nematic configurations cause splitting of phonon lines, without lifting degeneracies nor breaking symmetries, akin to spin liquids in magnetic systems.
RESUMEN
Interactions between nematic fluctuations, magnetic order and superconductivity are central to the physics of iron-based superconductors. Here we report on in-plane transverse acoustic phonons in hole-doped Sr_{1-x}Na_{x}Fe_{2}As_{2} measured via inelastic x-ray scattering, and extract both the nematic susceptibility and the nematic correlation length. By a self-contained method of analysis, for the underdoped (x=0.36) sample, which harbors a magnetically ordered tetragonal phase, we find it hosts a short nematic correlation length ξâ¼10 Å and a large nematic susceptibility χ_{nem}. The optimal-doped (x=0.55) sample exhibits weaker phonon softening effects, indicative of both reduced ξ and χ_{nem}. Our results suggest short-range nematic fluctuations may favor superconductivity, placing emphasis on the nematic correlation length for understanding the iron-based superconductors.
RESUMEN
The nature of the hidden-order (HO) state in URu_{2}Si_{2} remains one of the major unsolved issues in heavy-fermion physics. Recently, torque magnetometry, x-ray diffraction, and elastoresistivity data have suggested that the HO phase transition at T_{HO}≈ 17.5 K is driven by electronic nematic effects. Here, we search for thermodynamic signatures of this purported structural instability using anisotropic thermal expansion, Young's modulus, elastoresistivity, and specific-heat measurements. In contrast to the published results, we find no evidence of a rotational symmetry breaking in any of our data. Interestingly, our elastoresistivity measurements, which are in full agreement with published results, exhibit a Curie-Weiss divergence, which we however attribute to a volume and not to a symmetry-breaking effect. Finally, clear evidence for thermal fluctuations is observed in our heat-capacity data, from which we estimate the HO correlation length.
RESUMEN
We present high-resolution thermal-expansion and specific-heat measurements of single crystalline α-RuCl3. An extremely hysteretic structural transition expanding over 100 K is observed by thermal-expansion along both crystallographic axes, which we attribute to a change of stacking sequence of the RuCl3 layers. Three magnetic transitions are observed, which we link to the different stacking sequences. Using our data and thermodynamic relations, we derive the uniaxial and hydrostatic pressure derivatives of all three magnetic transitions. Our results demonstrate that magnetic order of the major transition at â¼7 K should be totally suppressed by very moderate pressures of 0.3 GPa. Finally, we discuss why our results differ from recent hydrostatic pressure measurements and suggest a possible route to reaching the spin-liquid state in α-RuCl3.
RESUMEN
High-temperature superconductivity in the Fe-based materials emerges when the antiferromagnetism of the parent compounds is suppressed by either doping or pressure. Closely connected to the antiferromagnetic state are entangled orbital, lattice, and nematic degrees of freedom, and one of the major goals in this field has been to determine the hierarchy of these interactions. Here we present the direct measurements and the calculations of the in-plane uniform magnetic susceptibility anisotropy of BaFe2As2, which help in determining the above hierarchy. The magnetization measurements are made possible by utilizing a simple method for applying a large symmetry-breaking strain, based on differential thermal expansion. In strong contrast to the large resistivity anisotropy above the antiferromagnetic transition at T N, the anisotropy of the in-plane magnetic susceptibility develops largely below T N. Our results imply that lattice and orbital degrees of freedom play a subdominant role in these materials.Interplay between lattice, orbital, magnetic and nematic degrees of freedom is crucial for the superconductivity in Fe-based materials. Here, the authors demonstrate the subdominant roles of pure lattice distortions and/or orbital ordering in BaFe2As2 by characterizing the in-plane magnetic susceptibility anisotropy.
RESUMEN
The phase diagram of the iron arsenides is dominated by a magnetic and a structural phase transition, which need to be suppressed in order for superconductivity to appear. The proximity between the two transition temperature lines indicates correlation between these two phases, whose nature remains unsettled. Here, we find a scaling relation between nuclear magnetic resonance and shear modulus data in the tetragonal phase of electron-doped Ba(Fe1-xCox)2As2 compounds. Because the former probes the strength of magnetic fluctuations while the latter is sensitive to orthorhombic fluctuations, our results provide strong evidence for a magnetically driven structural transition.
RESUMEN
Thermal expansion data are used to study the uniaxial pressure dependence of the electronic-magnetic entropy of Ba(Fe(1-x)Co(x))2As2. Uniaxial pressure is found to be proportional to doping and, thus, also an appropriate tuning parameter in this system. Many of the features predicted to occur for a pressure-tuned quantum critical system, in which superconductivity is an emergent phase hiding the critical point, are observed. The electronic-magnetic Grüneisen parameters associated with the spin-density wave and superconducting transitions further demonstrate an intimate connection between both ordering phenomena.
RESUMEN
Using high-resolution dilatometry, we study the thermodynamic response of the lattice parameters to superconducting order in a self-flux grown Ba(Fe0.92Co0.08)2As2 single crystal. The uniaxial-pressure dependencies of the critical temperature Tc calculated using our thermal-expansion and specific-heat data via the Ehrenfest relation, are found to be quite large and very anisotropic (dTc/dpa=3.1(1) K/GPa and dTc/dpc=-7.0(2) K/GPa). Our results show that there is a strong coupling of the c/a ratio to superconducting order, which demonstrates that Tc is far from the optimal value.
