Hedgehog spin-vortex crystal stabilized in a hole-doped iron-based superconductor
Abstract
Magnetism is widely considered to be a key ingredient of unconventional superconductivity. In contrast to cuprate high-temperature superconductors, antiferromagnetism in Fe-based superconductors (FeSCs) is characterized by a pair of magnetic propagation vectors. Consequently, three different types of magnetic order are possible. Of theses, only stripe-type spin-density wave (SSDW) and spin-charge-density wave (SCDW) orders have been observed. A realization of the proposed spin-vortex crystal (SVC) order is noticeably absent. We report a magnetic phase consistent with the hedgehog variation of SVC order in Ni- and Co-doped CaKFe4As4 based on thermodynamic, transport, structural and local magnetic probes combined with symmetry analysis. The exotic SVC phase is stabilized by the reduced symmetry of the CaKFe4As4 structure. Our results suggest that the possible magnetic ground states in FeSCs have very similar energies, providing an enlarged configuration space for magnetic fluctuations to promote high-temperature superconductivity.
Cite
@article{arxiv.1706.01067,
title = {Hedgehog spin-vortex crystal stabilized in a hole-doped iron-based superconductor},
author = {W. R. Meier and Q. -P. Ding and A. Kreyssig and S. L. Bud'ko and A. Sapkota and K. Kothapalli and V. Borisov and R. Valentí and C. D. Batista and P. P. Orth and R. M. Fernandes and A. I. Goldman and Y. Furukawa and A. E. Böhmer and P. C. Canfield},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:1706.01067},
year = {2018}
}
Comments
Updated version including supplemental material