Phase-slip residual-order spin state in FeSe

TL;DR

This paper reveals that FeSe hosts a residual-order spin state (ROSS) characterized by local stripe correlations and phase slips, which explains its spin fluctuations and supports spin-fluctuation pairing theories in superconductivity.

Contribution

It introduces the concept of ROSS, a nearly degenerate manifold of phase-slip defects in FeSe, combining computational and spectroscopic methods to elucidate its magnetic ground state.

Findings

FeSe exhibits a residual-order spin state (ROSS) with local stripe correlations.

Weighted superpositions of slip states match observed spin fluctuation spectra.

Multiple slip configurations are energetically nearly degenerate within a narrow window.

Abstract

Clarifying the magnetic ground state is essential for analysing unconventional superconductivity, because microscopic magnetic order provides one of the basic starting assumptions for spin-fluctuation pairing theories. FeSe exhibits pronounced stripe- and Neel-type spin fluctuations yet lacks static long-range order, posing a long-standing puzzle. By combining PBE and r2SCAN mixed exchange-correlation calculations with spectrally weighted simulations of the static spin structure factor S(q), we show that FeSe is not governed by a single magnetic configuration but by a nearly degenerate manifold of phase-slip defects embedded in a stripe background. We term this state a residual-order spin state (ROSS): a spin state that retains local stripe-like antiferromagnetic correlations but loses long-range phase coherence because of phase slips. Multiple slip configurations are compressed into an exceptionally narrow energy window. Non-local magneto-elastic coupling redistributes domain-wall formation energy through the lattice, whereas competing magnetic interactions truncate the real-space coherence length to an optimal scale of about ten moments. Weighted superpositions of these slip states reproduce the momentum-space line shapes of both stripe- and Neel-type spin fluctuations observed by inelastic neutron scattering, providing a microscopic basis for superconductivity models built on spin fluctuations.