Origin of the Tetragonal-to-Orthorhombic Phase Transition in FeSe: A Combined Thermodynamic and NMR Study of Nematicity

Abstract

The nature of the tetragonal-to-orthorhombic structural transition at T[s]≈90 K in single crystalline FeSe is studied using shear-modulus, heat-capacity, magnetization, and nuclear magnetic resonance measurements. The transition is shown to be accompanied by a large shear-modulus softening, which is practically identical to that of underdoped Ba(Fe, Co)[2]A[s2], suggesting a very similar strength of the electron-lattice coupling. On the other hand, a spin-fluctuation contribution to the spin-lattice relaxation rate is only observed below T[s]. This indicates that the structural, or “nematic, ” phase transition in FeSe is not driven by magnetic fluctuations.