Paper detail

Uniaxial "nematic-like" electronic structure and Fermi surface of untwinned CaFe2As2

Obtaining the electronic structure of the newly discovered iron-based superconductors is the key to understanding the mechanism of their high-temperature superconductivity. We used angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy (ARPES) to make direct measurements of the electronic structure and Fermi surface (FS) of the untwinned uniaxial state of CaFe2As2, the parent compound of iron-based superconductors. We observed unequal dispersions and FS geometries along the orthogonal Fe-Fe bond directions. More importantly, unidirectional straight and flat FS segments are observed near the zone center, which indicates the existence of a unidirectional nematic charge density wave order, strengthening the case for a quantum electronic liquid crystalline "nematic" phase. Further, the doping dependence extrapolates to a possible quantum critical point of the disappearance of this order in the heavily overdoped regime of these materials.