The role of striction at magnetic and structural transitions in iron-pnictides

Abstract

We discuss the role of striction in the intertwined magnetic and structural phase transitions in the underdoped iron-pnictides. The magneto-elastic coupling to acoustic modes is then derived and estimated in framework of the multiband spectrum for itinerant electrons with nesting features. We argue that the 1-st order character of the magneto-elastic phase transition originates from the lattice instabilities near the onset of spin-density wave order introducing, thus, a shear acoustic mode as a new order parameter. Taking non-harmonic termis in the lattice energy into account may explain the splitting of the structural and magnetic transitions in some oxypnictides. Fluctuations of the magnetic order parameter show up in the precursory temperature dependence of the elastic moduli.