- Kim, MG;
- Wang, M;
- Tucker, GS;
- Valdivia, PN;
- Abernathy, DL;
- Chi, Songxue;
- Christianson, AD;
- Aczel, AA;
- Hong, T;
- Heitmann, TW;
- Ran, S;
- Canfield, PC;
- Bourret-Courchesne, ED;
- Kreyssig, A;
- Lee, DH;
- Goldman, AI;
- McQueeney, RJ;
- Birgeneau, RJ
We present the results of elastic and inelastic neutron scattering measurements on nonsuperconducting Ba(Fe0.957Cu0.043)2As2, a composition close to a quantum critical point between antiferromagnetic (AFM) ordered and paramagnetic phases. By comparing these results with the spin fluctuations in the low-Cu composition as well as the parent compound BaFe2As2 and superconducting Ba(Fe1-xNix)2As2 compounds, we demonstrate that paramagnon-like spin fluctuations are evident in the antiferromagnetically ordered state of Ba(Fe0.957Cu0.043)2As2, which is distinct from the AFM-like spin fluctuations in the superconducting compounds. Our observations suggest that Cu substitution decouples the interaction between quasiparticles and the spin fluctuations. We also show that the spin-spin correlation length ξ(T) increases rapidly as the temperature is lowered and find ω/T scaling behavior, the hallmark of quantum criticality, at an antiferromagnetic quantum critical point.