Pressure- and temperature-induced structural phase transitions of CaFe₂As₂ and BaFe₂As₂ studied in the Hund's rule correlation picture

With the proposed Hund's rule correlation picture, i.e. the fluctuating Fe local moments with the As-bridged antiferromagnetic superexchange interactions, the exceptional collapsed tetragonal phase and related phase transitions observed in CaFe$_2$As$_2$ are well understood. With the same framework, a pressure-temperature phase diagram is predicted for BaFe$_2$As$_2$ as well, in which a paramagnetic tetragonal and a collinear antiferromagnetic orthorhombic structures to nonmagnetic tetragonal structure transitions take place around 4-8 GPa and 10-15 GPa respectively, and a nonmagnetic tetragonal to a nonmagnetic collapsed tetragonal structure transition takes place over 26 GPa. Our study helps better understand the complex correlation among crystal structure, magnetism, and electronic structure in pnictides, a precondition to understand the superconductivity in pnictides.