A spin-orbital-intertwined nematic state in FeSe.

Spin-orbit coupling (SOC) due to the relativistic motion of electrons is a fundamental interaction to intertwine spin and orbital degrees of freedom in solids. Recently, the fingerprint of SOC on the low-energy electronic structure has been observed in Fe-based superconductors (FeSCs). It stimulates wide interests to explore the influence of SOC in FeSCs, especially on topological nature. Here, we discover a novel spin-orbit entanglement in the nematic state of FeSe by a combined study on 77Se and 57Fe nuclear magnetic resonance. A sizeable anisotropy of local spin susceptibility within the FeSe plane is revealed in the nematic state (Tnem ~ 90K) as a hallmark of the spin-orbit entanglement. Meanwhile, a continuous electronic crossover involving 3dxy and 3dxz(3dyz) orbitals is also revealed in the nematic state, which stems from the Hund's coupling induced electronic correlation. These two findings verify a remarkable collective effect between electronic correlation and SOC, which leads to the unexpected entanglement of spin and orbital degrees of freedom in FeSe.