  We report anisotropic thermal expansion of the parent, AEFe2As2 (AE = Ba, Sr,
and Ca), compounds. Above the structural/antiferromagnetic phase transition
anisotropy of the thermal expansion coefficients is observed, with the
coefficient along the a-axis being significantly smaller than the coefficient
for the c-axis. The high temperature (200 K < T < 300 K) coefficients
themselves have similar values for the compounds studied. The sharp anomalies
associated with the structural/antiferromagnetic phase transitions are clearly
seen in the thermal expansion measurements. For all three pure compounds the
"average" a-value increases and the c-lattice parameter decreases on warming
through the transition with the smallest change in the lattice parameters
observed for SrFe2As2. The data are in general agreement with the literature
data from X-ray and neutron diffraction experiments.
