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Coexistence of orbital degeneracy lifting and superconductivity in iron-based superconductors

In contrast to conventional superconducting (SC) materials, superconductivity in high-temperature superconductors (HTCs) usually emerges in the presence of other fluctuating orders with similar or higher energy scales, thus instigating debates over their relevance for the SC pairing mechanism. In iron-based superconductors (IBSCs), local orbital fluctuations have been proposed to be directly responsible for the structural phase transition and closely related to the observed giant magnetic anisotropy and electronic nematicity. However, whether superconductivity can emerge from, or even coexist with orbital fluctuations, remains unclear. Here we report the angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy (ARPES) observation of the lifting of symmetry-protected band degeneracy, and consequently the breakdown of local tetragonal symmetry in the SC state of Li(Fe1-xCox)As. Supported by theoretical simulations, we analyse the doping and temperature dependences of this band-splitting and demonstrate an intimate connection between ferro-orbital correlations and superconductivity.