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Title: Ferro-Orbital Order and Strong Magnetic Anisotropy in the Parent Compounds of Iron-Pnictide Superconductors

Journal Article · · Physical Review Letters

The puzzling nature of magnetic and lattice phase transitions of iron pnictides is investigated via a first-principles Wannier function analysis of representative parent compound LaOFeAs. A rare ferro-orbital ordering is found to give rise to the recently observed highly anisotropic magnetic coupling, and drive both phase transitions - without resorting to widely employed frustration or nesting picture. The revealed necessity of the additional orbital physics leads to a correlated electronic structure fundamentally distinct from that of the cuprates. In particular, the strong coupling to the magnons advocates active roles of light orbitons in spin dynamics and electron pairing in iron pnictides.

Research Organization:
Brookhaven National Lab. (BNL), Upton, NY (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE SC OFFICE OF SCIENCE (SC)
DOE Contract Number:
DE-AC02-98CH10886
OSTI ID:
1040282
Report Number(s):
BNL-90942-2010-JA; PRLTAO; R&D Project: PO-015; KC0202030; TRN: US1202378
Journal Information:
Physical Review Letters, Vol. 103, Issue 26; ISSN 0031-9007
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English