Charge order driven by multiple-Q spin fluctuations in heavily electron-doped iron selenide superconductors

Intertwined spin and charge orders have been widely studied in high-temperature superconductors, since their fluctuations may facilitate electron pairing; however, they are rarely identified in heavily electron-doped iron selenides. Here, using scanning tunneling microscopy, we show that when the superconductivity of (Li(0.84)Fe(0.16)OH)Fe(1-x)Se is suppressed by introducing Fe-site defects, a short-ranged checkerboard charge order emerges, propagating along the Fe-Fe directions with an approximately 2a(Fe) period. It persists throughout the whole phase space tuned by Fe-site defect density, from a defect-pinned local pattern in optimally doped samples to an extended order in samples with lower T(c) or non-superconducting. Intriguingly, our simulations indicate that the charge order is likely driven by multiple-Q spin density waves originating from the spin fluctuations observed by inelastic neutron scattering. Our study proves the presence of a competing order in heavily electron-doped iron selenides, and demonstrates the potential of charge order as a tool to detect spin fluctuations.