Anisotropic In-Plane Resistivity in the Nematic Phase of the Iron Pnictides

Rafael M. Fernandes, Elihu Abrahams, and Jörg Schmalian

Phys. Rev. Lett. 107, 217002 – Published 14 November 2011

Abstract

We show that the interference between scattering by impurities and by critical spin fluctuations gives rise to anisotropic transport in the Ising-nematic state of the iron pnictides. The effect is closely related to the non-Fermi-liquid behavior of the resistivity near an antiferromagnetic quantum critical point. Our theory not only explains the observed sign of the resistivity anisotropy $Δ ρ$ in electron-doped systems but also predicts a sign change of $Δ ρ$ upon sufficient hole doping. Furthermore, our model naturally addresses the changes in $Δ ρ$ upon sample annealing and alkaline-earth substitution.

Received 19 May 2011

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.107.217002

Authors & Affiliations

Rafael M. Fernandes^1,*, Elihu Abrahams², and Jörg Schmalian^1,†

¹Ames Laboratory and Department of Physics and Astronomy, Iowa State University, Ames, Iowa 50011, USA
²Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California 90095, USA

^*Present address: Department of Physics, Columbia University, New York, NY 10027, USA.
^†Present address: Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, Institute for Theory of Condensed Matter, D-76131 Karlsruhe, Germany.