Distinct pressure evolution of coupled nematic and magnetic order in FeSe

TL;DR

This study investigates how pressure influences nematic and magnetic orders in FeSe, revealing a complex phase diagram with coupled and independent phenomena, and drawing parallels to iron pnictide superconductors.

Contribution

It provides a detailed microscopic analysis of pressure-induced phase transitions in FeSe, highlighting the distinct and coupled behaviors of nematicity and magnetism.

Findings

Pressure tunes FeSe through various magnetic and nematic phases.

Orthorhombic distortion initially decreases then stabilizes with magnetic order.

Near optimal Tc, orthorhombic distortion disappears, leaving a tetragonal structure.

Abstract

FeSe, despite being the structurally simplest compound in the family of iron-based superconductors, shows an astoundingly rich interplay of physical phenomena including nematicity and pressure-induced magnetism. Here, we present a microscopic study of these two phenomena by high-energy x-ray diffraction and time-domain M\"ossbauer spectroscopy on FeSe single crystals over a wide temperature and pressure range. The topology of the pressure-temperature phase diagram is a surprisingly close parallel to the well-known doping-temperature phase diagram of BaFe2As2 generated through partial Fe/Co and Ba/Na substitution. In FeSe with pressure p as a control parameter, the magneto-structural ground state can be tuned from "pure" nematic - paramagnetic with an orthorhombic lattice distortion - through a strongly coupled magnetically ordered and orthorhombic state to a magnetically ordered state without an orthorhombic lattice distortion. The magnetic hyperfine field increases monotonically over a wide pressure range. However, the orthorhombic distortion initially decreases under increasing pressure, but is stabilized by cooperative coupling to the pressure-induced magnetic order. Close to the reported maximum of the superconducting critical temperature Tc (occuring at p = 6.8 GPa), the orthorhombic distortion suddenly disappears and FeSe remains tetragonal down to the lowest temperature measured. Analysis of the structural and magnetic order parameters suggests an independent origin of the structural and magnetic ordering phenomena, and their cooperative coupling leads to the similarity with the canonical phase diagram of iron pnictides.