Resistive anisotropy due to spin-fluctuation scattering in the nematic phase of iron pnictides

M Breitkreiz, PMR Brydon, C Timm - Physical Review B, 2014 - APS
M Breitkreiz, PMR Brydon, C Timm
Physical Review B, 2014APS
The large in-plane anisotropy of the resistivity is a hallmark of the nematic state of the iron
pnictides. Solving the Boltzmann transport equation, we show that the prominent doping
dependence as well as the large values of the anisotropy can be well explained by
momentum-dependent spin-fluctuation scattering without assuming anisotropic impurity
states. Due to the forward-scattering corrections, the hot spots contribute to the resistive
anisotropy even in the case of strong spin fluctuations, which makes large values of the …
The large in-plane anisotropy of the resistivity is a hallmark of the nematic state of the iron pnictides. Solving the Boltzmann transport equation, we show that the prominent doping dependence as well as the large values of the anisotropy can be well explained by momentum-dependent spin-fluctuation scattering without assuming anisotropic impurity states. Due to the forward-scattering corrections, the hot spots contribute to the resistive anisotropy even in the case of strong spin fluctuations, which makes large values of the anisotropy possible. The ellipticity of the electron pockets plays an important role in explaining the dominance of positive values of the anisotropy, i.e., larger resistivity in the direction with weaker spin fluctuations, throughout the doping range.
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