We investigate the superconducting properties and possible nematic superconductivity of self-doped BiCh2-based (Ch: S, Se) superconductor CeOBiS1.7Se0.3 through the measurements of in-plane anisotropy of magnetoresistance. Single crystals of CeOBiS1.7Se0.3 were grown using a flux method. Single-crystal structural analysis revealed that the crystal structure at room temperature is tetragonal (P4/nmm). Bulk superconductivity with a transition temperature of 3.3 K was observed through electrical resistivity and magnetization measurements. Investigation of anisotropy of upper critical field suggested relatively low anisotropy in the crystal as compared to other BiCh2-based superconductors. In the superconducting states of CeOBiS1.7Se0.3, two-fold symmetric in-plane anisotropy of magnetoresistance was observed, which indicates the in-plane rotational symmetry breaking in the tetragonal structure and hence the possibility of nematic superconductivity in CeOBiS1.7Se0.3.
Recent experiments reported an unusual nematic behavior of heavily hole-doped pnictides $A$Fe$_{2}$As$_{2}$, with alkali $A$ = Rb, Cs. In contrast to the $B_{2g}$ nematic order of the parent $Ae$Fe$_{2}$As$_{2}$ compounds (with alkaline earth $Ae$ = Sr, Ba), characterized by unequal nearest-neighbor Fe-Fe bonds, in the hole-doped systems nematic order is observed in the $B_{1g}$ channel, characterized by unequal next-nearest-neighbor Fe-Fe (diagonal Fe-As-Fe) bonds. In this work, using density functional theory, we attribute this behavior to the evolution of the magnetic ground state along the…
We investigate chiral superconductivity which occurs in the electronic nematic state. A vortex state in a $c$-axis magnetic field is studied on the basis of the two-component Ginzburg-Landau model for nematic-chiral superconductors. It is shown that various vortex lattice structures are stabilized by nontrivial cooperation of nematicity and chirality in superconductors. In particular, the vortex lattice structural transition occurs when a square anisotropy parameter $ν$ is positive (negative) and the nematicity is induced along the [110] axis ([100] axis). We discuss nematic-chiral superconduc…
We explore a spin-fermion model with fermion-spin-quadrupolar interaction. In a nematic phase, this interaction reduces to a four-fermion interaction that is a basis of superconductivity. When the coupling constant is positive the superconductivity is p-wave with spin-parallel paired fermions. When it is negative the superconductivity is p-wave and fermions are spin-antiparallel paired. For a system with zero chemical potential, even a very small coupling can bind fermions into bound state that leads to the superconductivity. When the chemical potential is non-zero the system possesses quantum…
The nematic susceptibility of hole-doped Ba1-xKxFe2As2 and electron-doped Ba(Fe1-xCox)2As2 iron-based superconductors is obtained from measurements of the elastic shear modulus using a three-point bending setup in a capacitance dilatometer. Nematic fluctuations, although weakened by doping, extend over the whole superconducting dome in both systems, suggesting their close tie to superconductivity. Evidence for quantum critical behavior of the nematic susceptibility is, surprisingly, only found for Ba(Fe1-xCox)2As2, the system with the lower maximal Tc value.
Nematic superconductivity is a novel class of superconductivity characterized by spontaneous rotational-symmetry breaking in the superconducting gap amplitude and/or Cooper-pair spins with respect to the underlying lattice symmetry. Doped Bi2Se3 superconductors, such as CuxBi2Se3, SrxBi2Se3, and NbxBi2Se3, are considered as candidates for nematic superconductors, in addition to the anticipated topological superconductivity. Recently, various bulk probes, such as nuclear magnetic resonance, specific heat, magnetotransport, magnetic torque, and magnetization, have consistently revealed two-fold …
Unconventional superconductivity is characterized by the spontaneous symmetry breaking of the macroscopic superconducting wavefunction in addition to the gauge symmetry breaking, such as rotational-symmetry breaking with respect to the underlying crystal-lattice symmetry. Particularly, superconductivity with spontaneous rotational-symmetry breaking in the wavefunction amplitude and thus in bulk properties, not yet reported previously, is intriguing and can be termed "nematic" superconductivity in analogy to nematic liquid-crystal phases. Here, based on specific-heat measurements of the single-…
A nematic quantum critical point is anticipated to exist in the superconducting dome of some high-temperature superconductors. The nematic order competes with the superconducting order and hence reduces the superconducting condensate at $T = 0$. Moreover, the critical fluctuations of nematic order can excite more nodal quasiparticles out of the condensate. We address these two effects within an effective field theory and show that superfluid density $ρ^s(T)$ and superconducting temperature $T_c$ are both suppressed strongly by the critical fluctuations. The strong suppression of superconductiv…
The interplay of different electronic phases underlies the physics of unconventional superconductors. One of the most intriguing examples is a high-Tc superconductor FeTe1-xSex: it undergoes both a topological transition, linked to the electronic band inversion, and an electronic nematic phase transition, associated with rotation symmetry breaking, around the same critical composition xc where superconducting Tc peaks. At this regime, nematic fluctuations and symmetry-breaking strain could have an enormous impact, but this is yet to be fully explored. Using spectroscopic-imaging scanning tunne…
The recent study of $^{77}$Se nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) in a $β$-FeSe single crystal proposed that ferro-orbital order breaks the $90^\circ$ $C_4$ rotational symmetry, driving nematic ordering. Here, we report an NMR study of the impact of small strains generated by gluing on nematic state and spin fluctuations. We observe that the local strains strongly affect the nematic transition, considerably enhancing its onset temperature. On the contrary, no effect on low-energy spin fluctuations was found. Furthermore we investigate the interplay of the nematic phase and superconductivity. Our …
Electronic nematic behavior has been identified and studied in iron-based superconductors for some time, particularly in the well-known BaFe$_2$As$_2$ system, where it is well-known to compete with superconductivity. On the other hand, it has been shown recently that FeSe displays a negligible effect of nematicity on superconductivity near the superconducting transition, and actual cooperation between the two orders when the system is doped with S. Recently it has also been proposed that LiFeAs undergoes a nematic transition in the superconducting state itself. Generally, we expect superconduc…
The new development in sublattice-phase-resolved imaging of electronic structure now allow for the visualisation of the nematic-order state characteristic energy of cuprate superconductors in a wide doping regime. However, it is still unclear how this characteristic energy of the nematic-order state is correlated with the enhancement of superconductivity. Here the doping dependence of the nematic-order state characteristic energy in cuprate superconductors and of its possible connection to the enhancement of superconductivity is investigated within the framework of the kinetic-energy-driven su…
We present the strain and temperature dependence of an anomalous nematic phase in optimally doped BaFe$_2$(As,P)$_2$. Polarized ultrafast optical measurements reveal broken 4-fold rotational symmetry in a temperature range above $T_c$ in which bulk probes do not detect a phase transition. Using ultrafast microscopy, we find that the magnitude and sign of this nematicity vary on a ${50{-}100}~μ$m length scale, and the temperature at which it onsets ranges from 40 K near a domain boundary to 60 K deep within a domain. Scanning Laue microdiffraction maps of local strain at room temperature indica…
Recent experiments suggest that besides of antiferromagnetic fluctuations nematic fluctuations may contribute to the occurrence of superconductivity in iron pnictides. Motivated by this observation we study superconductivity from nematic fluctuations in a minimal two-band model. The employed band parameters are appropriate for iron pnictides and lead to four pockets for the Fermi line. It is shown that low-energy, long-wavelength nematic fluctuations within the pockets give rise to strong-coupling superconductivity whereas the large momenta density fluctuations between pockets are rather irrel…
Nematic states are characterized by rotational symmetry breaking without translational ordering. Recently, nematic superconductivity, in which the superconducting gap spontaneously lifts the rotational symmetry of the lattice, has been discovered. However the pairing mechanism and the mechanism determining the nematic orientation remain unresolved. A first step is to demonstrate control of the nematicity, through application of an external symmetry-breaking field, to determine the sign and strength of coupling to the lattice. Here, we report for the first time control of the nematic orientatio…
To understand the interplay between nematic fluctuation and superconductivity in iron-based superconductors, we performed a systematic study of the realistic two-orbital Hubbard model by using the constrained-path quantum Monte Carlo method. Our numerical results showed that the on-site nematic interaction induces a strong enhancement of nematic fluctuations at various momentums, especially at ($π$,$π$). Simultaneously, it was found that the on-site nematic interaction suppresses the ($π$,0)/(0,$π$) antiferromagnetic order and long-range electron pairing correlations for dominant pairing chann…
Electronic nematicity is often found in unconventional superconductors, suggesting its relevance for electronic pairing. In the strongly hole-doped iron-based superconductors, the symmetry channel and strength of the nematic fluctuations, as well as the possible presence of long-range nematic order, remain controversial. Here, we address these questions using transport measurements under elastic strain. By decomposing the strain response into the appropriate symmetry channels, we demonstrate the emergence of a giant in-plane symmetric contribution, associated with the growth of both strong ele…
We study the properties of $s$-wave superconductivity induced around a nematic quantum critical point in two-dimensional metals. The strong Landau damping and the Cooper pairing between incoherent fermions have dramatic mutual influence on each other, and hence should be treated on an equal footing. This problem is addressed by analyzing the self-consistent Dyson-Schwinger equations for the superconducting gap and Landau damping rate. We solve the equations at zero temperature without making any linearization, and show that the superconducting gap is maximized at the quantum critical point and…
We report the observation of superconductivity at 33 K in K-doped 1,2:8,9-dibenzopentacene (C30H18). This is higher than any Tc reported previously for an organic superconductor besides the alkali-metal doped C60. This finding provides an indication that superconductivity at much higher temperature may be possible in such system, if PAHs with longer benzene rings can be synthesized.
We show that a spontaneous strain and spontaneous magnetization can arise in the doped topological insulators with a two-component superconducting vector order parameter. The details of the effects crucially depend on the symmetry of the superconducting order parameter, whether it is nematic or chiral. The transition from the nematic state to the chiral one can be performed by application of a magnetic field while the transition from the chiral state to the nematic one is tuned by the external strain. These transitions associated with a jump of the magnetic susceptibility and mechanical stiffn…
Nematic superconductors possess unconventional superconducting order parameters that spontaneously break rotational symmetry of the underlying crystal. In this work we propose a mechanism for nematic superconductivity stabilized by strong density wave fluctuations in two dimensions. While the weak-coupling theory finds the fully gapped chiral state to be energetically stable, we show that strong density wave fluctuations result in an additional contribution to the free energy of a superconductor with multicomponent order parameters, which generally favors nematic superconductivity. Our theory …
Using Ginzburg-Landau approach we show that the strain of the nematic superconductor can generate a specific (nematic) vorticity. In the case of doped topological insulators that vorticity forms a spin vortex. We find two types of topologically different spin vortices that either enhance (type I) or suppress (type II) superconductivity far from the vortex core. We apply Bogoliubov-de Geunnes equations to study electronic states in the nematic superconductor with spin vortices. We find that in the case of the vortex of type I, zero-energy states are localized near the vortex core. These states …
The electronic nematic phase, wherein electronic degrees of freedom lower the crystal rotational symmetry, is a common motif across a number of high-temperature superconductors. However, understanding the role and influence of nematicity and nematic fluctuations in Cooper pairing is often complicated by the coexistence of other orders, particularly long-range magnetic order. Here we report the enhancement of superconductivity in a model electronic nematic system absent of magnetism, and show that the enhancement is directly born out of strong nematic fluctuations emanating from a tuned quantum…
In correlated electrons system, quantum melting of electronic crystalline phase often gives rise to many novel electronic phases. In cuprates superconductors, melting the Mott insulating phase with carrier doping leads to a quantum version of liquid crystal phase, the electronic nematicity, which breaks the rotational symmetry and exhibits a tight twist with high-temperature superconductivity. Recently, the electronic nematicity has also been observed in Fe-based superconductors. However, whether it shares a similar scenario with its cuprates counterpart is still elusive. Here, by measuring nu…
Iron-based superconductors are well known for their complex interplay between structure, magnetism and superconductivity. FeSe offers a particularly fascinating example. This material has been intensely discussed because of its extended nematic phase, whose relationship with magnetism is not obvious. Superconductivity in FeSe is highly tunable, with the superconducting transition temperature, $T_\mathrm{c}$, ranging from 8 K in bulk single crystals at ambient pressure to almost 40 K under pressure or in intercalated systems, and to even higher temperatures in thin films. In this topical review…
One dimensional hybrid systems play an important role in the search for topological superconductivity. Nevertheless, all one dimensional hybrid systems so far have been externally defined. Here we show that one-dimensional domain wall in a nematic superconductor can serve as an emergent hybrid system in the presence of spin-orbit coupling. As a concrete setting we study the domain wall between nematic domains in FeSe, which is well established to be a nematic superconductor. We first show on the symmetry grounds that spin-triplet pairing can be induced at the domain wall by constructing a Ginz…
An archetypical layered topological insulator Bi$_2$Se$_3$ becomes superconductive upon doping with Sr, Nb or Cu. Superconducting properties of these materials in the presence of in-plane magnetic field demonstrate spontaneous symmetry breaking: 180$^\circ$-rotation symmetry of superconductivity versus 120$^\circ$-rotation symmetry of the crystal. Such behavior brilliantly confirms nematic topological superconductivity. To what extent this nematicity is due to superconducting pairing in these materials, rather than due to crystal structure distortions? This question remained unanswered, becaus…
Recent experiments indicate that superconductivity in Bi$_2$Se$_3$ intercalated with Cu, Nb or Sr is nematic with rotational symmetry breaking. Motivated by this observation, we present a model study of nematic and chiral superconductivity induced by odd-parity fluctuations. We show that odd-parity fluctuations in the two-component $E_u$ representation of $D_{3d}$ crystal point group can generate attractive interaction in both the even-parity $s$-wave and odd-parity $E_u$ pairing channels, but repulsive interaction in other odd-parity pairing channels. Coulomb repulsion can suppress $s$-wave p…
Bulk FeSe is a special iron-based material in which superconductivity emerges inside a well-developed nematic phase. We present a microscopic model for this nematic superconducting state, which takes into account the mixing between $s-$wave and $d-$wave pairing channels and the changes in the orbital spectral weight promoted by the sign-changing nematic order parameter. We show that nematicity gives rise to a $\cos2θ$ variation of the pairing gap on the hole pocket that agrees with ARPES and STM data for experimentally-extracted Fermi surface parameters. We further argue that, in BCS theory, $…
Study of Fe based compounds have drawn much attention due to the discovery of superconductivity as well as many other exotic electronic properties. Here, we review some of our works in these materials carried out employing density functional theory and angle resolved photoemission spectroscopy. The results presented here indicate that the dimensionality of the underlying electronic structure plays important role in deriving their interesting electronic properties. The nematicity found in most of these materials appears to be related to the magnetic long range order. We argue that the exoticity…
The role of nematic order for the mechanism of high-temperature superconductivity is highly debated. In most iron-based superconductors (IBS) the tetragonal symmetry is broken already in the normal state, resulting in orthorhombic lattice distortions, static stripe magnetic order, or both. Superconductivity then emerges, at least at weak doping, already from the state with broken $C_4$ rotational symmetry. One of the few stoichiometric IBS, lithium iron arsenide, superconducts below 18 K and does not display either structural or magnetic transition in the normal state. Here we demonstrate, usi…
Superconducting FeSe single crystals of (001) orientation are synthesized via a hydrothermal ion-release route. An Ising spin-nematic order is identified by our systematic measurements of in-plane angular-dependent magnetoresistance (AMR) and static magnetization. The turn-on temperature of anisotropic AMR signifies the Ising spin-nematic ordering temperature Tsn, below which a two-fold rotational symmetry is observed in the iron plane. A downward curvature appears below Tsn in the temperature dependence of static magnetization for the weak in-plane magnetic field as reported previously. Remar…
Charge-$4e$ superconductivity as a novel phase of matter remains elusive so far. Here we show that charge-$4e$ phase can arise as a vestigial order above the nematic superconducting transition temperature in time-reversal-invariant nematic superconductors. On the one hand, the nontrivial topological defect -- nematic vortex -- is energetically favored over the superconducting phase vortex when the nematic stiffness is less than the superfluid stiffness; consequently the charge-$4e$ phase emerges by proliferation of nematic vortices upon increasing temperatures. On the other hand, the Ginzburg-…
Electronically driven nematic order is often considered as an essential ingredient of high-temperature superconductivity. Its elusive nature in iron-based supercon- ductors resulted in a controversy not only as regards its origin but also as to the degree of its influence on the electronic structure even in the simplest representative material FeSe. Here we utilized angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy and density functional theory calculations to study the influence of the nematic order on the electronic structure of FeSe and determine its exact energy and momentum scales. Our results st…
We consider a low $T_c$ metallic superconductor weakly coupled to the soft fluctuations associated with proximity to a nematic quantum critical point (NQCP). We show that: 1) a BCS-Eliashberg treatment remains valid outside of a parametrically narrow interval about the NQCP; 2) the symmetry of the superconducting state (d-wave, s-wave, p-wave) is typically determined by the non-critical interactions, but $T_c$ is enhanced by the nematic fluctuations in all channels; 3) in 2D, this enhancement grows upon approach to criticality up to the point at which the weak coupling approach breaks-down, bu…
In contrast to bulk FeSe, which exhibits nematic order and low temperature superconductivity, atomic layers of FeSe reverse the situation, having high temperature superconductivity appearing alongside a suppression of nematic order. To investigate this phenomenon, we study a minimal electronic model of FeSe, with interactions that enhance nematic fluctuations. This model is sign problem free, and is simulated using determinant quantum Monte Carlo (DQMC). We developed a DQMC algorithm with parallel tempering, which proves to be an efficient source of global updates and allows us to access the r…
We demonstrate that the differential conductance, $dI/dV$, measured via spectroscopic imaging scanning tunneling microscopy in the doped iron chalcogenide FeSe$_{0.45}$Te$_{0.55}$, possesses a series of characteristic features that allow one to extract the orbital structure of the superconducting gaps. This yields nearly isotropic superconducting gaps on the two hole-like Fermi surfaces, and a strongly anisotropic gap on the electron-like Fermi surface. Moreover, we show that the pinning of nematic fluctuations by defects can give rise to a dumbbell-like spatial structure of the induced impuri…
We study the physics of the Josephson effect in nematic superconductors with $E_u$ odd parity in the Ginzburg-Landau approach. Two-component vector superconducting order parameter makes this effect rather unusual. We get that the Meissner kernel has off-diagonal components. We derive current-phase relations for different configurations of the junction, crystallographic axes of the sample, and nematicity direction. We show that an anomalous Josephson Hall effect can be observed in such a system without any magnetization. That is, for definite orientations of the junction and crystal axes, a com…
The interplay of orbital and spin degrees of freedom is the fundamental characteristic in numerous condensed matter phenomena, including high temperature superconductivity, quantum spin liquids, and topological semimetals. In iron-based superconductors (FeSCs), this causes superconductivity to emerge in the vicinity of two other instabilities: nematic and magnetic. Unveiling the mutual relationship among nematic order, spin fluctuations, and superconductivity has been a major challenge for research in FeSCs, but it is still controversial. Here, by carrying out 77Se nuclear magnetic resonance (…
We study odd-parity nematic superconductivity in doped topological insulators in presence of surface magnetic impurities. The peculiar surface subgap spectrum, characterized by a Majorana flatband, nodal cones and the surface states of the parent topological insulator, gives rise to an overall ferromagnetic RKKY interactions between the surface impurities. An additional coupling between the impurities and a preemptive chiral order parameter promote a surface time-reversal symmetry breaking solution at the surface of the system. We discuss the relevant scenarios and suggest to engineer surface …
After the discovery of nematic topological superconductivity in CuxBi2Se3, carrier-doped topological insulators are established as a fertile ground for topological superconductors. The superconductor Cu1.5(PbSe)5(Bi2Se3)6 (CPSBS) contains Bi2Se3 blocks as a constitutional unit, but its superconducting gap appears to have nodes [S. Sasaki et al., Phys. Rev. B 90, 220504 (2014)], which is in contrast to the fully-opened gap in CuxBi2Se3 and the relation between the two superconductors remained an open question. Here we report our observation of clear two-fold symmetry in the in-plane magnetic-fi…
We present a novel experimental evidence for the odd-parity nematic superconductivity in high-quality single crystals of doped topological insulator Sr$_x$Bi$_2$Se$_3$. The X-ray diffraction shows that the grown single crystals are either weakly stretched or compressed uniaxially in the basal plane along one of the crystal axis. We show that in the superconducting state, the upper critical magnetic field $H_{c2}$ has a two-fold rotational symmetry and depends on the sign of the strain: in the stretched samples, the maximum of $H_{c2}$ is achieved when the in-plane magnetic field is transverse …
Larkin-Ovchinnikov superconducting state has spontaneous modulation of Cooper pair density, while Fulde-Ferrell state has a spontaneous modulation in the phase of the order parameter. We report that a quasi-two-dimensional Dirac metal, under certain conditions has principally different inhomogeneous superconducting states that by contrast have spontaneous modulation in a submanifold of a multiple-symmetries-breaking order parameter. The first state we find can be viewed as a nematic superconductor where the nematicity vector spontaneously breaks rotational and translational symmetries due to s…
The interplay between electronic orders and superconductivity is central to the physics of unconventional superconductors, and is particularly pronounced in the iron-based superconductors. Motivated by recent experiments on FeSe, we study the superconducting pairing in its nematic phase in a multiorbital model with frustrated spin-exchange interactions. The electron correlations in the presence of the nematic order give rise to an enhanced orbital selectivity in the superconducting pairing amplitudes. This orbital-selective pairing produces a large gap anisotropy on the Fermi surface. Our resu…
Strain is a powerful experimental tool to explore new electronic states and understand unconventional superconductivity. Here, we investigate the effect of uniaxial strain on the nematic and superconducting phase of single crystal FeSe using magnetotransport measurements. We find that the resistivity response to the strain is strongly temperature dependent and it correlates with the sign change in the Hall coefficient being driven by scattering, coupling with the lattice and multiband phenomena. Band structure calculations suggest that under strain the electron pockets develop a large in-plane…
Anisotropic strain is an external field capable of selectively addressing the role of nematic fluctuations in promoting superconductivity. We demonstrate this using polarization-resolved elasto-Raman scattering to probe the evolution of nematic fluctuations under strain in the normal and superconducting states of the paradigmatic iron-based superconductor Ba(Fe$_{1-x}$Co$_x$)$_2$As$_2$. In the non-superconducting parent compound BaFe$_2$As$_2$ we observe a strain-induced suppression of the nematic susceptibility which follows the expected behavior of an Ising order parameter under a symmetry b…
Superconductivity originates from pairing of electrons. Pairing channel on Fermi surface and pairing glue are thus two pivotal issues for understanding a superconductor. Recently, high-temperature superconductivity over 40 K was found in electron-doped FeSe superconductors including K$_x$Fe$_{2-y}$Se$_2$, Li$_{0.8}$Fe$_{0.2}$OHFeSe, and 1 monolayer FeSe thin film. However, their pairing mechanism remains controversial. Here, we studied the systematic evolution of electronic structure in potassium-coated FeSe single crystal. The doping level is controlled precisely by in situ evaporating potass…
The cuprate superconductors are characterized by numerous ordering tendencies, with the nematic order being the most distinct form of order. Here the intertwinement of the electronic nematicity with superconductivity in cuprate superconductors is studied based on the kinetic-energy-driven superconductivity. It is shown that the optimized Tc takes a dome-like shape with the weak and strong strength regions on each side of the optimal strength of the electronic nematicity, where the optimized Tc reaches its maximum. This dome-like shape nematic-order strength dependence of Tc indicates that the …
We discuss superconductivity in a model on a cubic lattice for a $Γ_3$ non-Kramers system. In previous studies, it is revealed that $d$-wave superconductivity with $E_g$ symmetry occurs in a wide parameter range in a $Γ_3$ system. Such anisotropic superconductivity can break the cubic symmetry of the lattice. In a $Γ_3$ system, the quadrupole degrees of freedom are active and the effect of the cubic symmetry breaking should be important. Here, we investigate the coexisting states of the $d$-wave superconductivity and quadrupole order by a mean-field theory. In particular, we discuss possible c…
Nematicity in the heavily hole-doped iron pnictide superconductors remains controversial. Sizeable nematic fluctuations and even nematic orders far from a magnetic instability were declared in RbFe$_2$As$_2$ and its sister compounds. Here we report a systematic elastoresistance study of series of isovalent- and electron-doped KFe$_2$As$_2$ crystals. We found divergent elastoresistance upon cooling for all the crystals along their [110] direction. The amplitude of elastoresistivity diverges if K is substituted with larger ions or if the system is driven towards a Lifshitz transition. However, w…
We investigate the competition between d-wave superconductivity and nematic order in high-$T_c$ superconductor, and examine the role played by gapless fermionic degrees of freedom. Apart from the competitive interaction with the superconducting order parameter, the nematic order parameter couples strongly to gapless nodal quasiparticles. The interplay of these two kinds of interactions is analyzed by means of renormalization group method. In case the fermionic degree of freedom are entirely neglected, the competitive interaction between two bosonic order parameters is strongly relevant, and ca…
The intra-unit-cell nematic phase is studied within the three-band Emery model of the cuprates with the use of the approach based on the diagrammatic expansion of the Gutzwiller wave function (DE-GWF). According to our analysis the spontaneous $C_4$ symmetry breaking of the electronic wave function, leading to the nematic behavior, can appear due to electron correlations induced mainly by the onsite Coulomb repulsion, even in the absence of the corresponding intersite oxygen-oxygen repulsion term. The latter has been considered as the triggering factor of the nematic state formation in a numbe…
Spontaneous rotational-symmetry breaking in the superconducting state of doped $\mathrm{Bi}_2\mathrm{Se}_3$ has attracted significant attention as an indicator for topological superconductivity. In this paper, high-resolution calorimetry of the single-crystal $\mathrm{Sr}_{0.1}\mathrm{Bi}_2\mathrm{Se}_3$ provides unequivocal evidence of a two-fold rotational symmetry in the superconducting gap by a \emph{bulk thermodynamic} probe, a fingerprint of nematic superconductivity. The extremely small specific heat anomaly resolved with our high-sensitivity technique is consistent with the material's …
We consider the lightly doped cuprates Y$_{0.97}$Ca$_{0.03}$BaCuO$_{6.05}$ and La$_{2-x}$Sr$_x$CuO$_4$ (with $x=0.02$,0.04), where the presence of a fluctuating nematic state has often been proposed as a precursor of the stripe (or, more generically, charge-density wave) phase, which sets in at higher doping. We phenomenologically assume a quantum critical character for the longitudinal and transverse nematic, and for the charge-ordering fluctuations, and investigate the effects of these fluctuations in Raman spectra. We find that the longitudinal nematic fluctuations peaked at zero transferre…
