Spin dynamics near a putative antiferromagnetic quantum critical point in Cu-substituted BaFe2As2 and its relation to high-temperature superconductivity

Abstract

We present the results of elastic and inelastic neutron scattering measurements on nonsuperconducting Ba(Fe0.957Cu0.043)(2)As-2, a composition close to a quantum critical point between antiferromagnetic (AFM) ordered and paramagnetic phases. By comparing these results with the spin fluctuations in the low-Cu composition as well as the parent compound BaFe2As2 and superconducting Ba(Fe1-xNix)(2)As-2 compounds, we demonstrate that paramagnon-like spin fluctuations are evident in the antiferromagnetically ordered state of Ba(Fe0.957Cu0.043)(2)As-2, which is distinct from the AFM-like spin fluctuations in the superconducting compounds. Our observations suggest that Cu substitution decouples the interaction between quasiparticles and the spin fluctuations. We also show that the spin-spin correlation length xi(T) increases rapidly as the temperature is lowered and find omega/T scaling behavior, the hallmark of quantum criticality, at an antiferromagnetic quantum critical point.