Extended strange metal regime in a pure nematic quantum critical superconductor
Abstract
High-temperature superconductivity often emerges from a strange metallic state, where the electrical resistivity exhibits a linear-in-temperature dependence over an anomalously extended temperature range. The prevailing belief is that magnetic critical fluctuations gives rise to strange metallicity, enhancing the superconducting transition temperature. Here, using high pulsed magnetic fields, we have uncovered the strange metallic ground state hidden below the superconducting dome of nonmagnetic FeSe1−xTex, which harbors a quantum critical point (QCP) of pure electronic nematicity, characterized by spontaneous rotational symmetry breaking. Unlike the conventional quantum criticality, this strange metallic state does not appear in a fan-shaped region above the singular QCP but spans a wide compositional range, where pairing interactions are strengthened by nonmagnetic nematic critical fluctuations. This stands in sharp contrast to the much cleaner system FeSe1−xSx, which displays a quantum critical fan above nematic QCP, indicating that disorder-induced spatial randomness of the nematic fluctuations likely enlarges the QCP of FeSe1−xTex into an extended region of criticality, as suggested by relevant hybrid Quantum Monte Carlo simulations. These observations highlight superconductivity promoted by a unique interplay between pure nematic critical fluctuations, strange metallicity and disorder, providing new insight into the emergence of non-Fermi-liquid transport in various correlated materials.
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BibTeX
@misc{ishida2026extended,
title = {{Extended strange metal regime in a pure nematic quantum critical superconductor}},
author = {Kousuke Ishida and Kiyotaka Mukasa and Shusaku Imajo and Andrew Hardy and Mingwei Qiu and Mikihiko Saito and Aavishkar A. Patel and Kohei Matsuura and Yuichi Sugimura and Yu Uezono and Takumi Otsuka and Nigel E. Hussey and Takao Watanabe and Koichi Kindo and Takasada Shibauchi},
howpublished = {arXiv},
year = {2026},
month = sep,
doi = {10.48550/arxiv.2609.05875},
eprint = {2609.05875},
archivePrefix = {arXiv},
url = {https://arxiv.org/abs/2609.05875},
}
RIS
TY - UNPB
TI - Extended strange metal regime in a pure nematic quantum critical superconductor
AU - Kousuke Ishida
AU - Kiyotaka Mukasa
AU - Shusaku Imajo
AU - Andrew Hardy
AU - Mingwei Qiu
AU - Mikihiko Saito
AU - Aavishkar A. Patel
AU - Kohei Matsuura
AU - Yuichi Sugimura
AU - Yu Uezono
AU - Takumi Otsuka
AU - Nigel E. Hussey
AU - Takao Watanabe
AU - Koichi Kindo
AU - Takasada Shibauchi
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/09/05
PB - arXiv
DO - 10.48550/arxiv.2609.05875
UR - https://arxiv.org/abs/2609.05875
AB - High-temperature superconductivity often emerges from a strange metallic state, where the electrical resistivity exhibits a linear-in-temperature dependence over an anomalously extended temperature range. The prevailing belief is that magnetic critical fluctuations gives rise to strange metallicity, enhancing the superconducting transition temperature. Here, using high pulsed magnetic fields, we have uncovered the strange metallic ground state hidden below the superconducting dome of nonmagnetic FeSe_1−xTe_x, which harbors a quantum critical point (QCP) of pure electronic nematicity, characterized by spontaneous rotational symmetry breaking. Unlike the conventional quantum criticality, this strange metallic state does not appear in a fan-shaped region above the singular QCP but spans a wide compositional range, where pairing interactions are strengthened by nonmagnetic nematic critical fluctuations. This stands in sharp contrast to the much cleaner system FeSe_1−xS_x, which displays a quantum critical fan above nematic QCP, indicating that disorder-induced spatial randomness of the nematic fluctuations likely enlarges the QCP of FeSe_1−xTe_x into an extended region of criticality, as suggested by relevant hybrid Quantum Monte Carlo simulations. These observations highlight superconductivity promoted by a unique interplay between pure nematic critical fluctuations, strange metallicity and disorder, providing new insight into the emergence of non-Fermi-liquid transport in various correlated materials.
ER -