Avoided quantum criticality and magnetoelastic coupling in BaFe(2-x)Ni(x)As2

We study the structural and magnetic orders in electron-doped BaFe(2-x)Ni(x)As2 by high-resolution synchrotron x-ray and neutron scatterings. Upon Ni doping x, the nearly simultaneous tetragonal-to-orthorhombic structural (T(s)) and antiferromagnetic (T(N)) phase transitions in BaFe2As2 are gradually suppressed and separated, resulting in T(s)T(N) with increasing x, as was previously observed. However, the temperature separation between T(s) and T(N) decreases with increasing x for x≥0.065, tending toward a quantum bicritical point near optimal superconductivity at x≈0.1. The zero-temperature transition is preempted by the formation of a secondary incommensurate magnetic phase in the region 0.088≲x≲0.104, resulting in a finite value of T(N)≈T(c) + 10 K above the superconducting dome around x≈0.1. Our results imply an avoided quantum critical point, which is expected to strongly influence the properties of both the normal and superconducting states.