Visualizing nematic instability and suppression of superconductivity in Fe(Te,Se)
ORAL
Abstract
FeTe1-xSex is a highly tunable high-Tc superconductor. It undergoes both a topological transition and an electronic nematic phase transition, around the same critical composition xc where the superconducting transition temperature Tc peaks. This regime enables exploring the impact of electronic nematicity and symmetry-breaking strain on different electronic phases. Here, we use scanning tunneling microscopy and spectroscopy to visualize the electronic nematic transition in FeTe1-xSex across xc. At xc, we discover the emergence of nanoscale regions hosting electronic nematicity with suppressed superconductivity, embedded within the non-nematic superconducting matrix. We conclude by discussing the role of anisotropic strain on the emergence of nematic regions, which could impact exotic topological phenomena reported in this system.
*We gratefully acknowledge the support from the Army Research Office Grant No. W911NF-17-1-0399 (STM measurements) and National Science Foundation Grant No. NSF-DMR-1654041 (strain analysis).
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Presenters
He Zhao
Boston College
Authors
He Zhao
Boston College
Hong Li
Boston College
Lianyang Dong
Materials, University of Santa Barbara
Binjie Xu
Zhejiang University
John Schneeloch
Univ of Virginia
Physics, University of Virginia
Condensed Matter Physics and Materials Science Department, Brookhaven National Laboratory
University of Virginia
Brookhaven National Laboratory
Ruidan Zhong
Princeton University
Brookhaven National Labs
Condensed Matter Physics and Materials Science Department
Condensed Matter Physics and Materials Science Department, Brookhaven National Laboratory
Brookhaven National Laboratory
Minghu Fang
Zhejiang University
Genda Gu
Brookhaven National Laboratory
Brookhaven National Laboratories
Brookhaven national lab
Brookhaven National Labs
Condensed Matter Physics and Materials Science Department
Condensed Matter Physics and Materials Science Department, Brookhaven National Laboratory
CMPMS, Brookhaven National Laboratory
Brookhaven National Lab
COndensed Matter Physics and Materials Science Department, Brookhaven National Laboratory
John W Harter
Materials, University of Santa Barbara
University of California, Santa Barbara
Stephen D. Wilson
Materials Department, UC Santa Barbara
Materials Department, University of California, Santa Barbara, California 93106-5050, USA
Materials, University of Santa Barbara
Materials Department, University of California, Santa Barbara
