Multiple Charge Density Waves and Superconductivity Nucleation at Antiphase Domain Walls in the Nematic Pnictide Ba1xSrxNi2As2

Sangjun Lee, John Collini, Stella X.-L. Sun, Matteo Mitrano, Xuefei Guo, Chris Eckberg, Johnpierre Paglione, Eduardo Fradkin, and Peter Abbamonte
Phys. Rev. Lett. 127, 027602 – Published 6 July 2021
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Abstract

How superconductivity interacts with charge or nematic order is one of the great unresolved issues at the center of research in quantum materials. Ba1xSrxNi2As2 (BSNA) is a charge ordered pnictide superconductor recently shown to exhibit a sixfold enhancement of superconductivity due to nematic fluctuations near a quantum phase transition (at xc=0.7) [1]. The superconductivity is, however, anomalous, with the resistive transition for 0.4<x<xc occurring at a higher temperature than the specific heat anomaly. Using x-ray scattering, we discovered a new charge density wave (CDW) in BSNA in this composition range. The CDW is commensurate with a period of two lattice parameters, and is distinct from the two CDWs previously reported in this material [1,2]. We argue that the anomalous transport behavior arises from heterogeneous superconductivity nucleating at antiphase domain walls in this CDW. We also present new data on the incommensurate CDW, previously identified as being unidirectional [2], showing that it is a rotationally symmetric “4Q” state with C4 symmetry. Our study establishes BSNA as a rare material containing three distinct CDWs, and an exciting test bed for studying coupling between CDW, nematic, and SC orders.

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  • Received 6 February 2021
  • Accepted 21 May 2021

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.127.027602

© 2021 American Physical Society

Physics Subject Headings (PhySH)

Condensed Matter, Materials & Applied Physics

Authors & Affiliations

Sangjun Lee1, John Collini2, Stella X.-L. Sun1, Matteo Mitrano1, Xuefei Guo1, Chris Eckberg2, Johnpierre Paglione2,3, Eduardo Fradkin1,4, and Peter Abbamonte1,*

  • 1Department of Physics and Materials Research Laboratory, University of Illinois, Urbana, Illinois 61801, USA
  • 2Maryland Quantum Materials Center, Department of Physics, University of Maryland, College Park, Maryland 20742, USA
  • 3Canadian Institute for Advanced Research, Toronto, Ontario M5G 1Z8, Canada
  • 4Institute of Condensed Matter Theory, University of Illinois, Urbana, Illinois 61801, USA

  • *abbamonte@mrl.illinois.edu

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Vol. 127, Iss. 2 — 9 July 2021

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