Nematic order in iron superconductors - who is in the driver's seat?

Abstract

Although the existence of nematic order in iron-based superconductors is now a well-established experimental fact, its origin remains controversial. Nematic order breaks the discrete lattice rotational symmetry by making the \(x\) and \(y\) directions in the Fe plane non-equivalent. This can happen because of (i) a tetragonal to orthorhombic structural transition, (ii) a spontaneous breaking of an orbital symmetry, or (iii) a spontaneous development of an Ising-type spin-nematic order - a magnetic state that breaks rotational symmetry but preserves time-reversal symmetry. The Landau theory of phase transitions dictates that the development of one of these orders should immediately induce the other two, making the origin of nematicity a physics realization of a "chicken and egg problem". The three scenarios are, however, quite different from a microscopic perspective. While in the structural scenario lattice vibrations (phonons) play the dominant role, in the other two scenarios electronic correlations are responsible for the nematic order. In this review, we argue that experimental and theoretical evidence strongly points to the electronic rather than phononic mechanism, placing the nematic order in the class of correlation-driven electronic instabilities, like superconductivity and density-wave transitions. We discuss different microscopic models for nematicity in the iron pnictides, and link nematicity to other ordered states of the global phase diagram of these materials -- magnetism and superconductivity. In the magnetic model nematic order pre-empts stripe-type magnetic order, and the same interaction which favors nematicity also gives rise to an unconventional \(s^{+-}\) superconductivity. In the charge/orbital model magnetism appears as a secondary effect of ferro-orbital order, and the interaction which favors nematicity gives rise to a conventional \(s^{++}\) superconductivity.