Charge and nematic orders in AFe2As2 (A = Rb, Cs) superconductors

We discuss the results of 75As nuclear quadrupole resonance (NQR) and muon spin relaxation measurements in AFe2As2 (A = Cs, Rb) iron-based superconductors. We point out that the crossover detected in the nuclear spin-lattice relaxation rate 1/T1 (around 150 K in RbFe2As2 and around 75 K in CsFe2As2), from a high temperature nearly localized to a low temperature delocalized behavior, is associated with the onset of an inhomogeneous local charge distribution causing the broadening or even the splitting of the NQR spectra as well as an increase in the muon spin relaxation rate. We argue that this crossover, occurring at temperatures well above the phase transition to the nematic long-range order, is due to a charge disproportionation at the Fe sites induced by competing Hund’s and Coulomb couplings. In RbFe2As2 around 35 K, far below that crossover temperature, we observe a peak in the NQR 1/T1 which is possibly associated with the critical slowing down of electronic nematic fluctuations on approaching the transition to the nematic long-range order.