Existence of Orbital Order and its Fluctuation in Superconducting Ba(Fe1-xCox)2As2 Single Crystals Revealed by X-ray Absorption Spectroscopy

We performed temperature dependent x-ray linear dichroism (XLD) experiments on an iron pnictide system, Ba(Fe1-xCox)(2)As-2 with x = 0.00, 0.05, 0.08, and 0.10 to experimentally verify the existence of orbital ordering (OO). Substantial XLD was observed in polarization dependent x-ray absorption spectra of Fe L edges. By exploiting the difference in the temperature dependent behaviors, OO, and structure contributions to XLD could be clearly separated. The observed OO signal indicates different occupation numbers for d(yz) and d(zx) orbitals and supports the existence of ferro-OO. The results are also consistent with the theoretical prediction. Moreover, we find substantial OO signal well above the structural and magnetic transition temperatures, which suggests the existence of strong OO fluctuations up to high temperatures.