Spin fluctuations in the 112-type iron-based superconductor Ca0.82La0.18Fe0.96Ni0.04As2

Abstract

Abstract We report time-of-flight inelastic neutron scattering (INS) investigations on the spin fluctuation spectrum in the 112-type iron-based superconductor (FeSC) Ca0.82La0.18Fe0.96Ni0.04As2 (CaLa-112). In comparison to the 122-type FeSCs with a centrosymmetric tetragonal lattice structure (space group I 4 / m m m ) at room temperature and an in-plane stripe-type antiferromagnetic (AF) order at low temperature, the 112 system has a noncentrosymmetric structure (space group P 2 1 ) with additional zigzag arsenic chains between Ca/La layers and a magnetic ground state with similar wavevector Q A F but different orientations of ordered moments in the parent compounds. Our INS study clearly reveals that the in-plane dispersions and the bandwidth of spin excitations in the superconducting CaLa-112 closely resemble to those in 122 systems. While the total fluctuating moments ⟨ m 2 ⟩ ≈ 4.6 ± 0.2 μ B 2 /Fe are larger than 122 system, the dynamic correlation lengths are similar (ξ ≈ 10 Å). These results suggest that superconductivity in iron arsenides may have a common magnetic origin under similar magnetic exchange couplings with a dual nature from local moments and itinerant electrons, despite their different magnetic patterns and lattice symmetries.