2017/03/31 by D. Labat, Dimitri Labat, I. Paul · 1 citation
Materials Science · Physics and Astronomy · #Advanced Condensed Matter Physics #Condensed matter physics #Coupling (piping) #Instability #Iron-based superconductors research #Lattice (music) #Liquid crystal #Materials science #Pairing #Phase (matter) #Phase transition #Physics #Physics of Superconductivity and Magnetism #Quantum #Quantum critical point #Quantum mechanics #Quantum phase transition #Superconductivity #T-symmetry #Tetragonal crystal system #cond-mat.str-el #cond-mat.supr-con
paper · pdf · doi:10.1103/physrevb.96.195146
published as Phys. Rev. B 96, 195146 (2017) · 7 pages, 4 figures
openalex created_date 2017/06/30 · openalex publication_date 2017/11/22 · arxiv created 2017/12/14 · arxiv updated 2017/12/15 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/05
We study how superconducting Tc is affected as an electronic system in a tetragonal environment is tuned to a nematic quantum critical point (QCP). Including coupling of the electronic nematic variable to the relevant lattice strain restricts criticality only to certain high symmetry directions. This allows a weak-coupling treatment, even at the QCP. We develop a criterion distinguishing weak and strong Tc enhancements upon approaching the QCP. We show that negligible Tc enhancement occurs only if pairing is dominated by a non-nematic interaction away from the QCP, and simultaneously if the electron-strain coupling is sufficiently strong. We argue this is the case of the iron superconductors.