We analyze magnetic order in iron-chalcogenide Fe$_{1+y}$Te -- the parent compound of high-temperature superconductor Fe$_{1+y}$Te$_{1-x}$Se$_x$. Neutron scattering experiments show that magnetic order in this material contains components with momentum $Q_1=(π/2, π/2)$ and $Q_2 =(π/2, -π/2)$ in Fe-only Brillouin zone. The actual spin order depends on the interplay between these two components. Previous works argued that spin order is a single-$Q$ state (either $Q_1$ or $Q_2$). Such an order breaks rotational $C_4$ symmetry and order spins into a double diagonal stripe. We show that quantum fluctuations actually select another order -- a double $Q$ plaquette state with equal weight of $Q_1$ and $Q_2$ components, which preserves $C_4$ symmetry but breaks $Z_4$ translational symmetry. We argue that the plaquette state is consistent with recent neutron scattering experiments on Fe$_{1+y}$Te.
We use scanning tunnelling microscopy and spectroscopy to explore the electronic structure of Fe$_{1.07}$Te which is the parent compound of the iron-chalcogenide superconductors. A unidirectional electronic structure with a period of $a_{0}$ (where $a_{0}$ is the lattice constant) along the a-axis is observed. The unidirectional pattern is visible within an energy range from approximately -200 to +130 meV. Since the direction of the unidirectional electronic structure coincides with those of the underlying antiferromagnetic and the predicted orbital orders, it is presumable that the observed u…
We use inelastic neutron scattering to show that long-range spin waves arising from the static bicollinear antiferromagnetic (AF) order in FeTe, which have twofold rotational symmetry in a fully detwinned crystal, rapidly dissolve above $E\approx 26$ meV into ridges of scattering with fourfold rotational symmetry and a nearly isotropic magnetic fluctuation spectrum. With increasing temperature above $T_N\approx 68$ K, the twofold spin waves change into broad regions of scattering with fourfold symmetry. Since the scattering patterns from plaquette magnetic order generated within a bilinear biq…
The nature of metallicity and the level of electronic correlations in the antiferromagnetically ordered parent compounds are two important open issues for the iron-based superconductivity. We perform a temperature-dependent angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy study of Fe1.02Te, the parent compound for iron chalcogenide superconductors. Deep in the antiferromagnetic state, the spectra exhibit a "peak-dip-hump" line shape associated with two clearly separate branches of dispersion, characteristics of polarons seen in manganites and lightly-doped cuprates. As temperature increases towards t…
We investigate the insulating phases of a frustrated Hubbard model in its strong coupling regime at half-filling. We pay special attention to all the symmetry breaking instabilities that can be described by Dynamical Mean Field Theory (DMFT) on a square plaquette. We identify several mean-field solutions, two Neel states breaking the SU(2) symmetry, a dimer phase and a Mott insulator which doesn't break any symmetry. The singlet to singlet fluctuations soften dramatically in the latter phase, giving rise to dimerization fluctuations as well as chiral fluctuations that are both low-lying. We pr…
Investigation of the inelastic neutron scattering spectra in Fe$_{1+y}$Te$_{1-x}$Se$_{x}$ near a signature wave vector $\mathbf{Q} = (1,0,0)$ for the bond-order wave (BOW) formation of parent compound Fe$_{1+y}$Te [Phys. Rev. Lett. 112, 187202 (2014)] reveals an acoustic-phonon-like dispersion present in all structural phases. While a structural Bragg peak accompanies the mode in the low-temperature phase of Fe$_{1+y}$Te, it is absent in the high-temperature tetragonal phase, where Bragg scattering at this $\mathbf{Q}$ is forbidden by symmetry. Notably, this mode is also observed in supercondu…
The present article reviews recent experimental investigations of spin dynamics in iron-based superconductors and their parent compounds by means of inelastic neutron scattering. It mainly focuses on the most contemporary developments in this field, pertaining to the observations of magnetic resonant modes in new superconductors, spin anisotropy of low-energy magnetic fluctuations that has now been observed in a wide range of chemical compositions and doping levels, as well as their momentum-space anisotropy incurred by the spin-nematic order. The implications of these new findings for our und…
It has recently been demonstrated that dynamical magnetic correlations measured by neutron scattering in iron chalcogenides can be described with models of short-range correlations characterized by particular {choices of four-spin plaquettes, where the appropriate choice changes as the} parent material is doped towards superconductivity. Here we apply such models to describe measured maps of magnetic scattering as a function of two-dimensional wave vectors obtained for optimally superconducting crystals of FeTe$_{1-x}$Se$_x$. We show that the characteristic antiferromagnetic wave vector evolve…
We present scanning tunneling microscopy and spectroscopy studies around an individual excess Fe atom, working as a local perturbation, in the parent material of the iron-chalcogenide superconductor Fe$_{1+δ}$Te. Spectroscopic imaging reveals a novel isosceles triangular electronic structure around the excess Fe atoms. Its spatial symmetry reects the underlying bicollinear antiferromagnetic spin state and the structural monoclinic symmetry. These findings provide important clues to understand the role of the excess Fe atoms, which complicate the understanding of the phenomena occurring in iron…
We have performed high-resolution angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy of iron-chalcogenide superconductor Fe1.03Te0.7Se0.3 (Tc = 13 K) to investigate the electronic structure relevant to superconductivity. We observed a hole- and an electron-like Fermi surfaces at the Brillouin zone center and corner, respectively, which are nearly nested by the Q~(pi, pi) wave vector. We do not find evidence for the nesting instability with Q~(pi+delta, 0) reminiscent of the antiferromagnetic order in the parent compound Fe1+yTe. We have observed an isotropic superconducting gap along the hole-like Ferm…
We establish a way to handle main collective fluctuations in correlated quantum systems based on a Fluctuation Local Field concept. This technique goes beyond standard mean-field approaches, such as Hartree-Fock and dynamical mean-field theories (DMFT), as it includes a fluctuating classical field that acts on the leading order parameter of the system. Effective model parameters of this new theory are determined from the variational principle, which allows to resolve the Fierz ambiguity in decoupling of the local interaction term. In the saddle-point approximation for the fluctuating field our…
Undoped iron superconductors accommodate $n=6$ electrons in five d-orbitals. Experimental and theoretical evidence shows that the strength of correlations increases with hole-doping, as the electronic filling approaches half-filling with $n=5$ electrons. This evidence delineates a scenario in which the parent compound of iron superconductors is the half-filled system, in analogy to cuprate superconductors. In cuprates the superconductivity can be induced upon electron or hole doping. In this work we propose to search for high-Tc superconductivity and strong correlations in chromium pnictides a…
Groundstate magnetism of the one-band Hubbard model on the frustrated square lattice where both nearest-neighbour $t_1$ and next-nearest-neighbour $t_2$ hoppings are considered at half-filling are revisited within mean field approximation. Two new magnetic phases are detected at intermediate strength of Hubbard $U$ and relative strong frustration of $t_2/t_1$, named double-stripe and plaquette antiferromagnetic states, both of which are metallic and stable even at finite temperature and electron doping. The nature of the phase transitions between different phases and the properties of the two …
Superconductivity in the iron pnictides and chalcogenides is closely connected to a bad-metal normal state and a nearby antiferromagnetic order. Therefore, considerable attention has been focused on the role of electron correlations and spin dynamics. In this article, we summarize some key experiments that quite directly imply strong electron correlations in these materials, and discuss aspects of the recent theoretical studies on these issues. In particular, we outline a $w$-expansion, which treats the correlation effects using the Mott transition as the reference point. For the parent system…
We report neutron scattering measurements, which reveal spin-liquid polymorphism in a '11' iron chalcogenide superconductor, a poorly-metallic magnetic FeTe tuned towards superconductivity by substitution of a small amount of Tellurium with iso-electronic Sulphur. We observe liquid-like magnetic dynamics, which is described by a competition of two phases with different local structure, whose relative abundance depends on temperature. One is the ferromagnetic (FM) plaquette phase observed in the non-superconducting FeTe, which preserves the C$_4$ symmetry of the underlying square lattice and is…
Analogs of the high-T$_c$ cuprates have been long sought after in transition metal oxides. Due to the strong spin-orbit coupling (SOC), the $5d$ perovskite iridates Sr$_2$IrO$_4$ exhibit a low-energy electronic structure remarkably similar to the cuprates. Whether a superconducting state exists as in the cuprates requires understanding the correlated spin-orbit entangled electronic states. Recent experiments discovered hidden order in the parent and electron doped iridates, some with striking analogies to the cuprates, including Fermi surface pockets, Fermi arcs, and pseudogap. Here, we study …
Neutron spectroscopy is used to investigate the magnetic fluctuations in Fe_{1+x}Te - a parent compound of chalcogenide superconductors. Incommensurate "stripe-like" excitations soften with increased interstitial iron concentration. The energy crossover from incommensurate to stripy fluctuations defines an apparent hour-glass dispersion. Application of sum rules of neutron scattering find that the integrated intensity is inconsistent with an S=1 Fe^{2+} ground state and significantly less than S=2 predicted from weak crystal field arguments pointing towards the Fe^{2+} being in a superposition…
The symmetry requirement and the origin of magnetic orders coexisting with superconductivity have been strongly debated issues of iron-based superconductors (FeSCs). Observation of C$_4$-symmetric antiferromagnetism in violation of the inter-band nesting condition of spin-density waves in superconducting ground state will require significant change in our understanding of the mechanism of FeSC. The superconducting material Sr$_2$VO$_3$FeAs, a bulk version of monolayer FeSC in contact with a perovskite layer with its magnetism (T$_N$ ~ 50 K) and superconductivity (T$_c$ ~ 37 K) coexisting at pa…
Control of emergent magnetic orders in correlated electron materials promises new opportunities for applications in spintronics. For their technological exploitation, it is important to understand the role of surfaces and interfaces to other materials and their impact on the emergent magnetic orders. Here, we demonstrate for iron telluride, the nonsuperconducting parent compound of the iron chalcogenide superconductors, determination and manipulation of the surface magnetic structure by low-temperature spin-polarized scanning tunneling microscopy. Iron telluride exhibits a complex structural a…
The magnetic excitations of the square-lattice spin-1/2 antiferromagnet and high-Tc parent La2CuO4 are determined using high-resolution inelastic neutron scattering. Sharp spin waves with absolute intensities in agreement with theory including quantum corrections are found throughout the Brillouin zone. The observed dispersion relation shows evidence for substantial interactions beyond the nearest-neighbor Heisenberg term, which can be understood in terms of a cyclic or ring exchange due to the strong hybridization path around the Cu4O4 square plaquettes.
Motivated by increasing experimental evidence of exotic magnetism in low-dimensional iron-based materials, we present a comprehensive theoretical analysis of magnetic states of the multiorbital Hubbard ladder in the orbital-selective Mott phase (OSMP). The model we used is relevant for iron-based compounds of the AFe$_2$X$_3$ family (where A${}={}$Cs, Rb, Ba, K are alkali metals and X${}={}$S, Se are chalcogenides). To reduce computational effort, and obtain almost exact numerical results in the ladder geometry, we utilize a low-energy description of the Hubbard model in the OSMP - the general…
Although the parent iron-based pnictides and chalcogenides are itinerant antiferromagnets, the use of local moment picture to understand their magnetic properties is still widespread. We study magnetic Raman scattering from a local moment perspective for various quantum spin models proposed for this new class of superconductors. These models vary greatly in the level of magnetic frustration and show a vastly different two-magnon Raman response. Light scattering by two-magnon excitations thus provides a robust and independent measure of the underlying spin interactions. In accord with other rec…
Large scale neural quantum states reveal the interplay between superconductivity and quantum criticality in the Hofstadter-Hubbard model
Center for Computational Quantum Physics, Flatiron Institute（Flatiron研究所计算量子物理中心）；Department of Physics, Columbia University（哥伦比亚大学物理系）；Center for Quantum Phenomena, Department of Physics, New York University（纽约大学物理系量子现象中心）
High-transition temperature (high-$T_c$) superconductivity in the iron pnictides/chalcogenides emerges from the suppression of the static antiferromagnetic order in their parent compounds, similar to copper oxides superconductors. This raises a fundamental question concerning the role of magnetism in the superconductivity of these materials. Neutron scattering, a powerful probe to study the magnetic order and spin dynamics, plays an essential role in determining the relationship between magnetism and superconductivity in high-$T_c$ superconductors. The rapid development of modern neutron time-…
Highly energetic magnetic fluctuations, discovered in high-temperature superconductors (HTSC) by inelastic neutron scattering (INS), are now widely believed to be vital for the superconductivity. In two competing scenarios, they either originate from local atomic spins, or are a property of cooperative spin-density-wave (SDW) behavior of conduction electrons. Both assume clear partition into localized electrons, giving rise to local spins, and itinerant ones, occupying well-defined, rigid conduction bands. Here, by performing an INS study of spin dynamics in iron telluride, a parent material o…
Reversible tuning of magnetic order and intrinsic superconductivity in strained FeTe films via stoichiometry control
Beijing Academy of Quantum Information Sciences（北京量子信息科学研究院）；Institute of Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences（中国科学院物理研究所）；University of Chinese Academy of Sciences（中国科学院大学）；Renmin University of China（中国人民大学）；Shanxi Normal University（山西师范大学）；Tsinghua University（清华大学）
Unconventional superconductivity typically emerges in the presence of quasi-degenerate ground states, and the associated intense fluctuations are likely responsible for generating the superconducting state. Here we use polarized neutron scattering to study the spin space anisotropy of spin excitations in Fe$_{1.07}$Te exhibiting bicollinear antiferromagnetic (AF) order, the parent compound of FeTe$_{1-x}$Se$_x$ superconductors. We confirm that the low energy spin excitations are transverse spin waves, consistent with a local-moment origin of the bicollinear AF order. While the ordered moments …
Motivated by the premise that superconductivity in iron-based superconductors is unconventional and mediated by spin fluctuations, an intense research effort has been focused on characterizing the spin excitation spectrum in the magnetically ordered parent phases of the Fe-pnictides2,3 and - chalcogenides4. For these undoped materials it is well-established that the spin excitation spectrum consists of a sharp, highly dispersive magnon spanning an energy range of up to 200 meV (ref. 3). The fate of these high-energy magnetic modes upon sizable doping is hitherto unresolved. Using resonant inel…
Crystal structure, electronic structure, and magnetic behavior of the spin-1/2 quantum magnet Na1.5VOPO4F0.5 are reported. The disorder of Na atoms leads to a sequence of structural phase transitions revealed by synchrotron x-ray powder diffraction and electron diffraction. The high-temperature second-order alpha <--> beta transition at 500 K is of the order-disorder type, whereas the low-temperature beta <--> gamma+gamma' transition around 250 K is of the first order and leads to a phase separation toward the polymorphs with long-range (gamma) and short-range (gamma') order of Na. Despite the…
