Motivated by recent experimental progress on iron-based ladder compounds, we study the doped two-orbital Hubbard model for the two-leg ladder BaFe$_2$S$_3$. The model is constructed by using {\it ab initio} hopping parameters and the ground state properties are investigated using the density matrix renormalization group method. We show that the $(π,0)$ magnetic ordering at half-filling, with ferromagnetic rungs and antiferromagnetic legs, becomes incommensurate upon hole doping. Moreover, depending on the strength of the Hubbard $U$ coupling, other magnetic patterns, such as $(0,π)$, are also stabilized. We found that the binding energy for two holes becomes negative for intermediate Hubbard interaction strength, indicating hole pairing. Due to the crystal-field split among orbitals, the holes primarily reside in one orbital, with the other one remaining half-filled. This resembles orbital selective Mott states. The formation of tight hole pairs continues with increasing hole density, as long as the magnetic order remains antiferromagnetic in one direction. The study of pair-pair correlations indicates the dominance of the intra-orbital spin-singlet channel, as opposed to other pairing channels. Although in a range of hole doping pairing correlations decay slowly, our results can also be interpreted as corresponding to a charge-density-wave made of pairs, a precursor of eventual superconductivity after interladder couplings are included. Such scenario of intertwined orders has been extensively discussed before in the cuprates, and our results suggest a similar physics could exist in ladder iron-based superconductors. Finally, we also show that a robust Hund's coupling is needed for pairing to occur.
We present a polarization and topology resolved study of the low energy band structure in optimally doped superconducting Ba0.6K0.4Fe2As2 using angle resolved photoemission spectroscopy. Polarization-contrasted measurements allow us to identify and trace all low energy bands expected in models, revealing unexpected symmetry breaking and a surprisingly intertwined Fermi surface topology of hole-like bands near the Brillouin zone center. Band structure correlations across the Gamma-M spin fluctuation wavevector are compared with the superconducting gap anisotropy which suggest a partial scenario…
The underdoped phase diagram of the iron-based superconductors exemplifies the complexity common to many correlated materials. Indeed, multiple ordered states that break different symmetries but display comparable transition temperatures are present. Here, we argue that such a complexity can be understood within a simple unifying framework. This framework, built to respect the symmetries of the non-symmorphic space group of the FeAs/Se layer, consists of primary magnetically-ordered states and their vestigial phases that intertwine spin and orbital degrees of freedom. All vestigial phases have…
Quasi-one-dimensional iron chalcogenides possess various magnetic states depending on the lattice distortion, electronic correlations, and presence of defects. We present neutron diffraction and inelastic neutron scattering experiments on the spin ladder compound BaFe$_{2-δ}$S$_{1.5}$Se$_{1.5}$ with $\sim$6% iron vacancies. The data reveal that long-range magnetic order is absent, while the characteristic magnetic excitations that correspond to both the stripe- and block-type antiferromagnetic correlations are observed. First-principles calculations support the existence of both stripe and blo…
Motivated by the recent report of superconductivity in Fe-based ladder materials, we study the pairing state of a multi-orbital t-J model defined on two-leg ladders using the standard mean-field theory. We find that the superconducting order parameters change sign between the $d_{xz}$ and $d_{yz}$ orbitals in most of the phase diagram. By analogy with the two-dimensional Fe planes, we conclude that the leading pairing channel of this state belongs to the $B_{1g}$ symmetry class, which is distinct from the common $s_{\pm}$ gap with the $A_{1g}$ symmetry. By smoothly interpolating from planes in…
Here we show that the 2.80(8) μB/Fe block antiferromagnetic order of BaFe2Se3 transforms into stripe antiferromagnetic order in KFe2Se3 with a decrease in moment to 2.1(1) μB/Fe. This reduction is larger than expected from the change in electron count from Ba$^{2+}$ to K$^{+}$, and occurs with the loss of the displacements of Fe atoms from ideal positions in the ladders, as found by neutron pair distribution function analysis. Intermediate compositions remain insulating, and magnetic susceptibility measurements show a suppression of magnetic order and probable formation of a spin-glass. Togeth…
Magnetism in the insulating BaFe$_2$Se$_3$ was examined through susceptibility, specific heat, resistivity and neutron diffraction measurements. After formation of a short-range magnetic correlation, a long-range ordering was observed below $T_{\rm N}\sim 255$ K. The transition is obscured by bulk properties. Magnetic moments ($\parallel a$) are arranged to form a Fe$_4$ ferromagnetic unit, and each Fe$_4$ stacks antiferromagnetically. This block magnetism is of the third type among magnetic structures of ferrous materials. The magnetic ordering drives unusually large distortion via magnetoela…
Since the discovery of pressure-induced superconductivity in the two-leg ladder system BaFe$_2X_3$ ($X$=S, Se), with the 3$d$ iron electronic density $n = 6$, the quasi-one-dimensional iron-based ladders have attracted considerable attention. Here, we use Density Functional Theory (DFT) to predict that the novel $n = 6$ iron ladder BaFe$_2$Te$_3$ could be stable with a similar crystal structure as BaFe$_2$Se$_3$. Our results also indicate that BaFe$_2$Te$_3$ will display the complex 2$\times$2 Block-type magnetic order. Due to the magnetic striction effects of this Block order, BaFe$_2$Te$_3$ …
We have grown single crystals of the iron-based ladder material BaFe_2S_3, which is superconductive under high pressure, adopting different conditions. By comparing the behaviors of these samples, it is found that the in situ annealing process can affect the crystal structure and the electrical transport, enhance the antiferromagnetic transition temperature, and reduce the extrinsic ferromagnetic component of the system. An in-depth analysis indicates that the crystal quality is improved by the in situ annealing in terms of reducing both the Fe deficiency and the Fe impurity in the samples. Th…
Intertwined Charge Stripes and Majorana Zero Modes in An Iron-Based Superconductor
Tsinghua University（清华大学）；Southern University of Science and Technology（南方科技大学）；Boston College（波士顿学院）；Shanghai Jiao Tong University（上海交通大学）；Hefei National Laboratory（合肥国家实验室）；Beijing Academy of Quantum Information Sciences（北京量子信息科学研究院）
The recent discovery of superconductivity under high pressure in the two-leg ladder compound BaFe$_2$S$_3$ [H. Takahashi et al., Nature Materials 14, 1008 (2015)] opens a broad avenue of research, because it represents the first report of pairing tendencies in a quasi one-dimensional iron-based high critical temperature superconductor. Similarly as in the case of the cuprates, ladders and chains can be far more accurately studied using many-body techniques and model Hamiltonians than their layered counterparts, particularly if several orbitals are active. In this publication, we derive a two-o…
The recent discovery of superconductivity at high pressure in the two-leg ladder compounds BaFe$_2X_3$ ($X$=S, Se) started the novel field of quasi-one-dimensional iron-based superconductors. In this publication, we use Density Functional Theory (DFT) to predict that the previously barely explored ladder compound RbFe$_2$Te$_3$ should be magnetic with a CX-type arrangement involving ferromagnetic rungs and antiferromagnetic legs, at the realistic density of $n=5.5$ electrons per iron. The magnetic state similarity with BaFe$_2$S$_3$ suggests that RbFe$_2$Te$_3$ could also become superconductin…
Unconventional superconductivity (SC) is said to occur when Cooper pair formation is dominated by repulsive electron-electron interactions, so that the symmetry of the pair wavefunction is other than isotropic s-wave. The strong, on-site, repulsive electron-electron interactions that are the proximate cause of such superconductivity are more typically drivers of commensurate magnetism. Indeed, it is the suppression of commensurate antiferromagnetism (AF) that usually allows this type of unconventional superconductivity to emerge. Importantly, however, intervening between these AF and SC phases…
We investigated the iron-based ladder compounds (Ba,Cs)Fe$_2$Se$_3$. Their parent compounds, BaFe$_2$Se$_3$ and CsFe$_2$Se$_3$, have different space groups, formal valences of Fe and magnetic structures. Electrical resistivity, specific heat, magnetic susceptibility, X-ray diffraction and powder neutron diffraction measurements were conducted to obtain temperature and composition phase diagram of this system. Block magnetism observed in BaFe$_2$Se$_3$ is drastically suppressed with Cs doping. In contrast, stripe magnetism observed in CsFe$_2$Se$_3$ is not so fragile against Ba doping. New type…
Superconductivity in the iron pnictides emerges from metallic parent compounds exhibiting intertwined stripe-type magnetic order and nematic order, with itinerant electrons suggested to be essential for both. Here we use X-ray and neutron scattering to show that a similar intertwined state is realized in semiconducting KFe$_{0.8}$Ag$_{1.2}$Te$_2$ (K$_5$Fe$_4$Ag$_6$Te$_{10}$) without itinerant electrons. We find Fe atoms in KFe$_{0.8}$Ag$_{1.2}$Te$_2$ form isolated $2\times2$ blocks, separated by nonmagnetic Ag atoms. Long-range magnetic order sets in below $T_{\rm N}\approx35$ K, with magnetic…
Magnetotransport Properties of Iron-Based Ladder Compounds BaFe2S3 and BaFe2Se3 under High Pressure
Graduate School of Advanced Science and Engineering, Hiroshima University（广岛大学高级科学与工程学院）；International Institute for Sustainability with Knotted Chiral Meta Matter (WPI-SKCM2), Hiroshima University（广岛大学螺旋手性超材料可持续性国际研究所）；Department of Physics, Graduate School of Science, Tohoku University（东北大学理学院物理系）
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…
A hallmark of the phase diagrams of quantum materials is the existence of multiple electronic ordered states, which, in many cases, are not independent competing phases, but instead display a complex intertwinement. In this review, we focus on a particular realization of intertwined orders: a primary phase characterized by a multi-component order parameter and a fluctuation-driven vestigial phase characterized by a composite order parameter. This concept has been widely employed to elucidate nematicity in iron-based and cuprate superconductors. Here we present a group-theoretical framework tha…
Electrical resistivity measurements have been performed on the iron-based ladder compounds Ba$_{1-x}$Cs$_x$Fe$_2$Se$_3$ ($x$ = 0, 0.25, 0.65, and 1) under high pressure. A cubic anvil press was used up to 8.0 GPa, whereas further higher pressure was applied using a diamond anvil cell up to 30.0 GPa. Metallic behavior of the electrical conductivity was confirmed in the $x$ = 0.25 and 0.65 samples for pressures greater than 11.3 and 14.4 GPa, respectively, with the low-temperature $\log T$ upturn being consistent with weak localization of 2D electrons due to random potential. At pressures higher…
Electronic nematicity is rarely observed as an isolated instability of a correlated electron system. Instead, in iron pnictides and in certain cuprates and heavy-fermion materials, nematicity is intertwined with an underlying spin-stripe or charge-stripe state. As a result, random strain, ubiquitous in any real crystal, creates both random-field disorder for the nematic degrees of freedom and random-bond disorder for the spin or charge ones. Here, we put forward an Ashkin-Teller model with random Baxter fields to capture the dual role of random strain in nematic systems for which nematicity is…
Electronic and magnetic structures of iron selenide compounds Ce2O2FeSe2 (2212\ast) and BaFe2Se3(123\ast) are studied by the first-principles calculations. We find that while all these compounds are composed of one-dimensional (1D) Fe chain (or ladder) structures, their electronic structures are not close to be quasi-1D. The magnetic exchange couplings between two nearest-neighbor (NN) chains in 2212\ast and between two NN two-leg-ladders in 123\ast are both antiferromagnetic (AFM), which is consistent with the presence of significant third NN AFM coupling, a common feature shared in other iro…
The recent discovery of superconductivity in BaFe$_2$S$_3$ [Takahashi {\it et al.}, Nat. Mater. {\bf 14}, 1008 (2015)] has stimulated considerable interest in 123-type iron chalcogenides. This material is the first reported iron-based two-leg ladder superconductor, as opposed to the prevailing two-dimensional layered structures of the iron superconductors family. Once the hydrostatic pressure exceeds $11$ GPa, BaFe$_2$S$_3$ changes from a semiconductor to a superconductor below $24$~K. Although previous calculations correctly explained its ground state magnetic state and electronic structure, …
Unconventional strongly correlated phases of the repulsive Fermi-Hubbard model, which could be emulated by ultracold vapors loaded in optical lattices, are investigated by means of energy minimizations with quantum number projection before variation and without any assumed order parameter. In a tube-like geometry of optical plaquettes to realize the four-leg ladder Hubbard Hamiltonian, we highlight the intertwining of spin-, charge-, and pair-density waves embedded in a uniform d-wave superfluid background. As the lattice filling increases, this phase emerges from homogenous states exhibiting …
We report an inelastic neutron scattering study of the spin waves of the one-dimensional antiferromagnetic spin ladder compound RbFe$_2$Se$_3$. The results reveal that the products, $SJ$'s, of the spin $S$ and the magnetic exchange interactions $J$'s along the antiferromagnetic (leg) direction and the ferromagnetic (rung) direction are comparable with those for the stripe ordered phase of the parent compounds of the iron-based superconductors. The universality of the $SJ$'s implies nearly universal spin wave dynamics and the irrelevance of the fermiology for the existence of the stripe antifer…
We show using bosonization methods that extended Hubbard-Heisenberg models on two types of two leg ladders (without flux and with flux $π$ per plaquette) have commensurate pair-density wave (PDW) phases. In the case of the conventional (flux-less) ladder the PDW arises when certain filling fractions for which commensurability conditions are met. For the flux $π$ ladder the PDW phase is generally present. The PDW phase is characterized by a finite spin gap and a superconducting order parameter with a finite (commensurate in this case) wave vector and power-law superconducting correlations. In t…
The iron pnictides and the cuprates represent two families of materials, where strong antiferromagnetic correlation drives three other distinct ordering tendencies: (1) superconducting pairing, (2) Fermi surface distortion, and (3) orbital current order. We propose that (1)-(3) and the antiferromagnetic correlation are the hallmarks of a class of strongly correlated materials to which the cuprates and pnictides belong. In this paper we present the results of the functional renormalization group studies to support the above claim. In addition, we show that as a function of the interlayer hoppin…
The pressure effects on the antiferromagentic orders in iron-based ladder compounds CsFe$_2$Se$_3$ and BaFe$_2$S$_3$ have been studied using neutron diffraction. With identical crystal structure and similar magnetic structures, the two compounds exhibit highly contrasting magnetic behaviors under moderate external pressures. In CsFe$_2$Se$_3$ the ladders are brought much closer to each other by pressure, but the stripe-type magnetic order shows no observable change. In contrast, the stripe order in BaFe$_2$S$_3$, undergoes a quantum phase transition where an abrupt increase of N$\acute{e}$el t…
The majority of the iron-based superconductors (FeSCs) exhibit a two-dimensional square lattice structure. Recent reports of pressure-induced superconductivity in the spin-ladder system, BaFe$_2$X$_3$ (X =S,Se), introduce a quasi-one-dimensional prototype and an insulating parent compound to the FeSCs. Here we report X-ray, neutron diffraction and muon spin relaxation experiments on BaFe$_2$Se$_3$ under hydrostatic pressure to investigate its magnetic and structural properties across the pressure-temperature phase diagram. A structural phase transition was identified at a pressure of 3.7(3) GP…
With angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy, we studied the electronic structure of TaFe$_{1.23}$Te$_3$, which is a two-leg spin ladder compound with a novel antiferromagnetic ground state. Quasi-two-dimensional Fermi surface is observed, indicating sizable inter-ladder hopping, which would facilitate the in-plane ferromagnetic ordering through double exchange interactions. Moreover, an energy gap is not observed at the Fermi surface in the antiferromagnetic state. Instead, the shifts of various bands have been observed. Combining these observations with density-functional-theory calculatio…
BaFe2S3 is a special iron superconductor with two-leg ladder structure which can help to unravel the role played by the electronic correlations in high-Tc superconductivity. At zero pressure it is insulating with stripe antiferromagnetic (AF) order and superconductivity emerges under pressure. We use a slave-spin technique to analyze the strength of the local correlations in BaFe2S3. We find that at the pressure at which the superconductivity appears the electronic correlations in BaFe2S3 are similar to the ones measured in other iron superconductors. However, at zero pressure the strength of …
The iron-selenides are important because of their superconducting properties. Here, an unexpected phenomenon is predicted to occur in an iron-selenide compound with a quasi-one-dimensional ladder geometry: BaFe$_2$Se$_3$ should be a magnetic ferrielectric system, driven by its magnetic block order via exchange striction. A robust performance (high $T_{\rm C}$ and large polarization) is expected. Different from most multiferroics, BaFe$_2$Se$_3$ is ferrielectric, with a polarization that mostly cancels between ladders. However, its strong magnetostriction still produces a net polarization that …
Intrinsic translational symmetry-breaking charge stripes in underdoped iron pnictides
Tsinghua University（清华大学）；Southern University of Science and Technology（南方科技大学）；Beijing Academy of Quantum Information Sciences（北京量子信息科学研究院）；Hefei National Laboratory（合肥国家实验室）
The discovery of superconductivity in the two-leg ladder compound BaFe$_2$S$_3$ has established the 123-type iron chalcogenides as a novel and interesting subgroup of the iron-based superconductors family. However, in this 123 series, BaFe$_2$Se$_3$ is an exceptional member, with a magnetic order and crystalline structure different from all others. Recently, an exciting experiment reported the emergence of superconductivity in BaFe$_2$Se$_3$ at high pressure [J.-J. Ying, et al., Phys. Rev. B 95, 241109 (R) (2017)]. In this publication, we report a first principles study of BaFe$_2$Se$_3$. Our …
Resonant Inelastic X-Ray Scattering (RIXS) experiments on the iron-based ladder BaFe$_2$Se$_3$ unveiled an unexpected two-peak structure associated with local orbital ($dd$) excitations in a block-type antiferromagnetic phase. A mixed character between correlated band-like and localized excitations was also reported. Here, we use the density matrix renormalization group method to calculate the momentum-resolved charge- and orbital-dynamical response functions of a multi-orbital Hubbard chain. Remarkably, our results qualitatively resemble the BaFe$_2$Se$_3$ RIXS data, while also capturing the …
Unraveling Intertwined Orders in the Strongly Correlated Kagome Metal CsCr3Sb5
Tsinghua University（清华大学）；Weizmann Institute of Science（魏茨曼科学研究所）；Zhejiang University（浙江大学）；Zhejiang University of Technology（浙江工业大学）；University of Science and Technology of China（中国科学技术大学）
Motivated by the discovery of superconductivity in the two-leg, quasi-one dimensional ladder compound, BaFe$_2$S$_3$ we present a renormalization group study of electrons moving on a two leg, two orbital ladder, subjected to Hubbard repulsion $U$ and Hund's coupling $J$. In our calculations, we adopt tightbinding parameters obtained from ab-initio studies on this material. At incommensurate filling, the long wavelength analysis displays four phases as a function of $0 \leq J/U <1$. We show that a fully gapped superconductor is stabilized at sufficiently large Hund's coupling, the relative phas…
Iron pnictides and selenides display a variety of unusual magnetic phases originating from the interplay between electronic, orbital, and lattice degrees of freedom. Using powder inelastic neutron scattering on the two-leg ladder BaFe2Se3, we fully characterize the static and dynamic spin correlations associated with the Fe4 block state, an exotic magnetic ground state observed in this low-dimensional magnet and in Rb0.89Fe1.58Se2. All the magnetic excitations of the Fe4 block state predicted by an effective Heisenberg model with localized spins are observed below 300 meV and quantitatively re…
Quasi-one-dimensional iron-based ladders and chains, with the 3$d$ iron electronic density $n = 6$, are attracting considerable attention. Recently, a new iron chain system Ba$_2$FeS$_3$, also with $n = 6$, was prepared under high-pressure and high-temperature conditions. Here, the magnetic and electronic phase diagrams are theoretically studied for this quasi-one-dimensional compound. Based on first-principles calculations, a strongly anisotropic one-dimensional electronic band behavior near the Fermi level was observed. In addition, a three-orbital electronic Hubbard model for this chain was…
The recent detailed study of quasi-one-dimensional iron-based ladders, with the $3d$ iron electronic density $n = 6$, has unveiled surprises, such as orbital-selective phases. However, similar studies for $n=6$ iron chains are still rare. Here, a three-orbital electronic Hubbard model was constructed to study the magnetic and electronic properties of the quasi-one-dimensional $n=6$ iron chain Ce$_2$O$_2$FeSe$_2$, with focus on the effect of doping. Specifically, introducing the Hubbard $U$ and Hund $J_{H}$ couplings and studying the model via the density matrix renormalization group, we report…
The importance of antiferromagnetic fluctuations are widely acknowledged in most unconventional superconductors. In addition, cuprates and iron pnictides often exhibit unidirectional (nematic) electronic correlations, including stripe and orbital orders, whose fluctuations may also play a key role for electron pairing. However, these nematic correlations are intertwined with antiferromagnetic or charge orders, preventing us to identify the essential role of nematic fluctuations. This calls for new materials having only nematicity without competing or coexisting orders. Here we report systemati…
Inelastic neutron scattering measurements have been performed to investigate the spin waves of the quasi-one-dimensional antiferromagnetic ladder compound BaFe$_2$S$_3$, where a superconducting transition was observed under pressure [H. Takahashi {\it et al.}, Nat. Mater. 14, 1008-1012 (2015); T. Yamauchi {\it et al.}, Phys. Rev. Lett. 115, 246402 (2015)]. By fitting the spherically averaged experimental data collected on a powder sample to a Heisenberg Hamiltonian, we find that the one-dimensional antiferromagnetic ladder exhibits a strong nearest neighbor ferromagnetic exchange interaction (…
We determined the spin exchanges between the Cu2+ ions in the kagome layers of volborthite, Cu3V2O7(OH)2x2H2O, by performing the energy-mapping analysis based on DFT+U calculations, to find that the kagomé layers of Cu2+ ions are hardly spin-frustrated, and the magnetic properties of volborthite below ~75 K should be described by very weakly interacting antiferromagnetic uniform chains made up of effective S=1/2 pseudospin units. This conclusion was verified by synthesizing single crystals of not only Cu3V2O7(OH)2x2H2O but also its deuterated analogue Cu3V2O7(OD)2x2D2O and then by investigatin…
In this work we demonstrate how to compute the one- and two-body reduced density matrices within the spin-adapted full configuration interaction quantum Monte Carlo (FCIQMC) method, which is based on the graphical unitary group approach (GUGA). This allows us to use GUGA-FCIQMC as a spin-pure configuration interaction (CI) eigensolver within the complete active space self-consistent field (CASSCF) procedure, and hence to stochastically treat active spaces far larger than conventional CI solvers whilst variationally relaxing orbitals for specific spin-pure states. We apply the method to investi…
We report a comprehensive study of the spin ladder compound BaFe$_2$S$_{2.5}$Se$_{0.5}$ using neutron diffraction, inelastic neutron scattering, high pressure synchrotron diffraction, and high pressure transport techniques. We find that BaFe$_2$S$_{2.5}$Se$_{0.5}$ possesses the same $Cmcm$ structure and stripe antiferromagnetic order as does BaFe$_2$S$_3$, but with a reduced N{é}el temperature of $T_N=98$ K compared to 120 K for the undoped system, and a slightly increased ordered moment of 1.40$μ_B$ per iron. The low-energy spin excitations in BaFe$_2$S$_{2.5}$Se$_{0.5}$ are likewise similar …
Magnetism and symmetry of superconducting gap in LaFeAsO from dynamical mean-field theory
M. N. Mikheev Institute of Metal Physics of Ural Branch of Russian Academy of Sciences（俄罗斯科学院乌拉尔分校 M.N. 米赫耶夫金属物理研究所）；Ural Federal University（乌拉尔联邦大学）；Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology（莫斯科物理技术学院）
The recent discovery of superconductivity under high pressure in the ladder compound BaFe$_2$S$_3$ has opened a new field of research in iron-based superconductors with focus on quasi one-dimensional geometries. In this publication, using the Density Matrix Renormalization Group technique, we study a two-orbital Hubbard model defined in one dimensional chains. Our main result is the presence of hole binding tendencies at intermediate Hubbard $U$ repulsion and robust Hund coupling $J_H/U=0.25$. Binding does not occur neither in weak coupling nor at very strong coupling. The pair-pair correlatio…
Iron-based superconductors display a variety of magnetic phases originating in the competition between electronic, orbital, and spin degrees of freedom. Previous theoretical investigations of the multi-orbital Hubbard model in one dimension revealed the existence of an orbital-selective Mott phase (OSMP) with block spin order. Recent inelastic neutron scattering (INS) experiments on the BaFe$_2$Se$_3$ ladder compound confirmed the relevance of the block-OSMP. Moreover, the powder INS spectrum reveled an unexpected structure, containing both low-energy acoustic and high-energy optical modes. He…
Competing interactions in Quantum Materials induce novel states of matter such as frustrated magnets, an extensive field of research both from the theoretical and experimental perspectives. Here, we show that competing energy scales present in the low-dimensional orbital-selective Mott phase (OSMP) induce an exotic magnetic order, never reported before. Earlier neutron scattering experiments on iron-based 123 ladder materials, where OSMP is relevant, already confirmed our previous theoretical prediction of block-magnetism (magnetic order of the form $\uparrow\uparrow\downarrow\downarrow$). Now…
