Theory of two-magnon Raman scattering in alkaline iron selenide superconductors

• Two-magnon Raman scattering is theoretically studied for alkaline iron selenides.
• Underlying spin interactions of the 5×5 AF superstructure are investigated in details.
• Optimal set of exchange parameters is revealed when fitting to experiments.

Motivated by the recent experiment of two-magnon Raman scattering in alkaline iron selenide superconductors (Zhang et al., 2012), we investigate in details the underlying spin interactions of the 5×5 antiferromagnetic superstructure. Based on the linear spin wave approximation, the Fleury-London (FL) two-magnon Raman cross-sections are calculated. By comparing theoretical results with the Raman data in both AgAg and BgBg channels, an optimal set of exchange parameters which are consistent with the fitting to the neutron scattering data are obtained. It reveals that the experimentally observed broad and asymmetric peaks around 1600 cm−1 are dominantly originated from quasiparticle excitations in two nearly degenerate magnon bands in the (0,±π0,±π) and (±π,0±π,0) directions. The result thus supports that the magnetic properties in alkaline iron selenide A  Fe1.6+xFe1.6+xSe6 superconductors can be basically described by the quantum spin model with up to third nearest-neighbor exchange couplings.