Strong cooperative coupling of pressure-induced magnetic order and nematicity in FeSe

A hallmark of the iron-based superconductors is the strong coupling between magnetic, structural and electronic degrees of freedom. However, a universal picture of the normal state properties of these compounds has been confounded by recent investigations of FeSe where the nematic (structural) and magnetic transitions appear to be decoupled. Here, using synchrotron-based high-energy x-ray diffraction and time-domain Mössbauer spectroscopy, we show that nematicity and magnetism in FeSe under applied pressure are indeed strongly coupled. Distinct structural and magnetic transitions are observed for pressures between 1.0 and 1.7 GPa and merge into a single first-order transition for pressures ≳1.7 GPa, reminiscent of what has been found for the evolution of these transitions in the prototypical system Ba(Fe1−xCox)2As2. Our results are consistent with a spin-driven mechanism for nematic order in FeSe and provide an important step towards a universal description of the normal state properties of the iron-based superconductors. Whilst strong coupling between structure and magnetism is a signature of many of the Fe-based superconductors, no evidence for this has been reported in the normal state of FeSe. Here, the authors demonstrate strong coupling between nematicity and magnetism in FeSe under applied pressure.