Symmetry-broken electronic structure and uniaxial Fermi surface nesting of untwinned CaFe2As2

Abstract

We used angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy to make direct measurements of the electronic structure of the untwinned uniaxial state of CaFe${}_{2}$As${}_{2}$, the parent compound of an iron-based superconductor. The very small photon beam size, combined with the relatively large single-domain area on the crystal surfaces, allowed us to obtain the intrinsic symmetry-broken dispersions and Fermi surface (FS) geometries along the orthogonal Fe-Fe bond directions without any mechanical or magnetic detwinning processes. Comparing the optimized local density approximation calculations, an orbital-dependent band shifting is introduced to obtain better agreement, which is consistent with the development of orbital ordering. More interestingly, unidirectional straight and flat FS segments are observed near the zone center, which indicates the existence of a unidirectional charge density wave order. Our results indicate strong electronic anisotropy in CaFe${}_{2}$As${}_{2}$ and put strong constraints on theories for the iron-pnictide system.