Spectral evidence for unidirectional charge density wave in detwinned BaNi2As2

In the iron-based superconductors, unconventional superconductivity emerges in proximity to intertwined electronic orders consisting of an electronic nematic order and a spin density wave (SDW). Recently, BaNi2As2, like its well-known iron-based analog BaFe2As2, has been discovered to host a symmetry-breaking structural transition but coupled to a unidirectional charge density wave (CDW) instead of SDW, providing a novel platform to study intertwined orders. Here, through a systematic angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy study combined with a detwinning B1g uniaxial strain, we identify distinct spectral evidence of band evolution due to the structural transition as well as CDW-induced band folding. In contrast to the nematicity and spin density wave in BaFe2As2, the structural and CDW order parameters in BaNi2As2 are observed to be strongly coupled and do not separate in the presence of uniaxial strain. Furthermore, no nematic band splitting is resolved above the structural transition. Our measurements point to a likely lattice origin of the CDW order in BaNi2As2.Received 22 April 2022Revised 1 February 2023Accepted 24 July 2023DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevB.108.L081104©2023 American Physical SocietyPhysics Subject Headings (PhySH)Research AreasCharge density wavesNematic phase transitionPhysical SystemsIron-based superconductorsTechniquesAngle-resolved photoemission spectroscopyCondensed Matter, Materials & Applied Physics