Comment on "Nematic Electronic Structure in the "Parent" State of the Iron-Based Superconductor Ca(Fe1-xCox)2As2"

TL;DR

This paper critiques previous claims of nematic electronic phases in Ca(Fe1-xCox)2As2, arguing that observed asymmetries are due to magnetic order and that standard electronic structure calculations better explain the data.

Contribution

It challenges the interpretation of QPI imaging as evidence for nematic phases, proposing magnetic order and LDA calculations as more accurate explanations.

Findings

Asymmetry in QPI images aligns with magnetic order.

LDA electronic structure explains QPI data better than 1D band models.

Magnetic order accounts for observed electronic anisotropy.

Abstract

Chuang et al (Reports, 8th of January 2010, p. 181)1 report quasiparticle interference (QPI) imaging that shows pronounced C2 asymmetry. They interpreted this result as indication of an electronic nematic phase with an electron band dispersive only along the b-axis of this orthorhombic material. We argue that this asymmetry is consistent with the underlying long range magnetic order and that LDA electronic structure provides a better description of the QPI images than the 1D band structure conjectured by Chuang et al.