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Lee S, Kim DY, Rosa PFS, Bauer ED, Ronning F, Thompson JD, Lin SZ, Movshovich R. Normal Fermi Surface in the Nodal Superconductor CeCoIn_{5} Revealed via Thermal Conductivity. PHYSICAL REVIEW LETTERS 2024; 132:236002. [PMID: 38905643 DOI: 10.1103/physrevlett.132.236002] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/28/2024] [Accepted: 05/06/2024] [Indexed: 06/23/2024]
Abstract
The thermal conductivity of heavy-fermion superconductor CeCoIn_{5} was measured with a magnetic field rotating in the tetragonal a-b plane, with the heat current in the antinodal direction, J|| [100]. We observe a sharp resonance in thermal conductivity for the magnetic field at an angle Θ≈12°, measured from the heat current direction [100]. This resonance corresponds to the reported resonance at an angle Θ^{'}≈33° from the direction of the heat current applied along the nodal direction, J||[110]. Both resonances, therefore, occur when the magnetic field is applied in the same crystallographic orientation in the two experiments, regardless of the direction of the heat current, proving conclusively that these resonances are due to the structure of the Fermi surface of CeCoIn_{5}. We argue that the uncondensed Landau quasiparticles, emerging with field, are responsible for the observed resonance. We support our experimental results with density-functional-theory model calculations of the density of states in a rotating magnetic field. Our calculations, using a model Fermi surface of CeCoIn_{5}, reveal several sharp peaks as a function of the field direction. Our study demonstrates that the thermal-conductivity measurement in rotating magnetic field can probe the normal parts of the Fermi surface deep inside the superconducting state.
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Gyenis A, Feldman BE, Randeria MT, Peterson GA, Bauer ED, Aynajian P, Yazdani A. Visualizing heavy fermion confinement and Pauli-limited superconductivity in layered CeCoIn 5. Nat Commun 2018; 9:549. [PMID: 29416021 PMCID: PMC5803268 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-018-02841-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/07/2017] [Accepted: 01/03/2018] [Indexed: 11/09/2022] Open
Abstract
Layered material structures play a key role in enhancing electron–electron interactions to create correlated metallic phases that can transform into unconventional superconducting states. The quasi-two-dimensional electronic properties of such compounds are often inferred indirectly through examination of bulk properties. Here we use scanning tunneling microscopy to directly probe in cross-section the quasi-two-dimensional electronic states of the heavy fermion superconductor CeCoIn5. Our measurements reveal the strong confined nature of quasiparticles, anisotropy of tunneling characteristics, and layer-by-layer modulated behavior of the precursor pseudogap gap phase. In the interlayer coupled superconducting state, the orientation of line defects relative to the d-wave order parameter determines whether in-gap states form due to scattering. Spectroscopic imaging of the anisotropic magnetic vortex cores directly characterizes the short interlayer superconducting coherence length and shows an electronic phase separation near the upper critical in-plane magnetic field, consistent with a Pauli-limited first-order phase transition into a pseudogap phase. The electronic properties along the out-of-plane direction of layered materials are often inferred indirectly. Here, Gyenis et al. directly probe in cross-section the quasi-two-dimensional correlated electronic states of the heavy fermion superconductor CeCoIn5.
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Affiliation(s)
- András Gyenis
- Joseph Henry Laboratories of Physics, Department of Physics, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ, 08544, USA.,Department of Electrical Engineering, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ, 08544, USA
| | - Benjamin E Feldman
- Joseph Henry Laboratories of Physics, Department of Physics, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ, 08544, USA.,Department of Physics, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, 94305, USA
| | - Mallika T Randeria
- Joseph Henry Laboratories of Physics, Department of Physics, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ, 08544, USA
| | - Gabriel A Peterson
- Joseph Henry Laboratories of Physics, Department of Physics, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ, 08544, USA.,National Institute of Standards and Technology, Boulder, CO, 80305, USA
| | - Eric D Bauer
- Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos, NM, 87545, USA
| | - Pegor Aynajian
- Department of Physics, Applied Physics and Astronomy, Binghamton University, Binghamton, NY, 13902, USA
| | - Ali Yazdani
- Joseph Henry Laboratories of Physics, Department of Physics, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ, 08544, USA.
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Kim DY, Lin SZ, Weickert F, Bauer ED, Ronning F, Thompson JD, Movshovich R. Resonances in the Field-Angle-Resolved Thermal Conductivity of CeCoIn_{5}. PHYSICAL REVIEW LETTERS 2017; 118:197001. [PMID: 28548529 DOI: 10.1103/physrevlett.118.197001] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/04/2016] [Indexed: 06/07/2023]
Abstract
The thermal conductivity measurement in a rotating magnetic field is a powerful probe of the structure of the superconducting energy gap. We present high-precision measurements of the low-temperature thermal conductivity in the unconventional heavy-fermion superconductor CeCoIn_{5}, with the heat current J along the nodal [110] direction of its d_{x^{2}-y^{2}} order parameter and the magnetic field up to 7 T rotating in the ab plane. In contrast to the smooth oscillations found previously for J∥[100], we observe a sharp resonancelike peak in the thermal conductivity when the magnetic field is also in the [110] direction, parallel to the heat current. We explain this peak qualitatively via a model of the heat transport in a d-wave superconductor. In addition, we observe two smaller but also very sharp peaks in the thermal conductivity for the field directions at angles Θ≈±33° with respect to J. The origin of the observed resonances at Θ≈±33° at present defies theoretical explanation. The challenge of uncovering their source will dictate exploring theoretically more complex models, which might include, e.g., fine details of the Fermi surface, Andreev bound vortex core states, a secondary superconducting order parameter, and the existence of gaps in spin and charge excitations.
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Affiliation(s)
- Duk Y Kim
- Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos, New Mexico 87545, USA
| | - Shi-Zeng Lin
- Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos, New Mexico 87545, USA
| | | | - Eric D Bauer
- Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos, New Mexico 87545, USA
| | - Filip Ronning
- Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos, New Mexico 87545, USA
| | - J D Thompson
- Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos, New Mexico 87545, USA
| | - Roman Movshovich
- Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos, New Mexico 87545, USA
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Kenzelmann M. Exotic magnetic states in Pauli-limited superconductors. REPORTS ON PROGRESS IN PHYSICS. PHYSICAL SOCIETY (GREAT BRITAIN) 2017; 80:034501. [PMID: 28112100 DOI: 10.1088/1361-6633/80/3/034501] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/06/2023]
Abstract
Magnetism and superconductivity compete or interact in complex and intricate ways. Here we review the special case where novel magnetic phenomena appear due to superconductivity, but do not exist without it. Such states have recently been identified in unconventional superconductors. They are different from the mere coexistence of magnetic order and superconductivity in conventional superconductors, or from competing magnetic and superconducting phases in many materials. We describe the recent progress in the study of such exotic magnetic phases, and articulate the many open questions in this field.
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Affiliation(s)
- M Kenzelmann
- Laboratory for Scientific Developments and Novel Materials, Paul Scherrer Institut, CH-5232 Villigen, Switzerland
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Paglione J, Tanatar MA, Reid JP, Shakeripour H, Petrovic C, Taillefer L. Quantum Critical Quasiparticle Scattering within the Superconducting State of CeCoIn_{5}. PHYSICAL REVIEW LETTERS 2016; 117:016601. [PMID: 27419578 DOI: 10.1103/physrevlett.117.016601] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/04/2016] [Indexed: 06/06/2023]
Abstract
The thermal conductivity κ of the heavy-fermion metal CeCoIn_{5} was measured in the normal and superconducting states as a function of temperature T and magnetic field H, for a current and field parallel to the [100] direction. Inside the superconducting state, when the field is lower than the upper critical field H_{c2}, κ/T is found to increase as T→0, just as in a metal and in contrast to the behavior of all known superconductors. This is due to unpaired electrons on part of the Fermi surface, which dominate the transport above a certain field. The evolution of κ/T with field reveals that the electron-electron scattering (or transport mass m^{⋆}) of those unpaired electrons diverges as H→H_{c2} from below, in the same way that it does in the normal state as H→H_{c2} from above. This shows that the unpaired electrons sense the proximity of the field-tuned quantum critical point of CeCoIn_{5} at H^{⋆}=H_{c2} even from inside the superconducting state. The fact that the quantum critical scattering of the unpaired electrons is much weaker than the average scattering of all electrons in the normal state reveals a k-space correlation between the strength of pairing and the strength of scattering, pointing to a common mechanism, presumably antiferromagnetic fluctuations.
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Affiliation(s)
- Johnpierre Paglione
- Center for Nanophysics and Advanced Materials, Department of Physics, University of Maryland, College Park, Maryland 20742, USA
- Canadian Institute for Advanced Research, Toronto, Canada M5G 1Z8
| | - M A Tanatar
- Département de physique & RQMP, Université de Sherbrooke, Sherbrooke, Canada J1K 2R1
- Ames Laboratory USDOE and Department of Physics and Astronomy, Iowa State University, Ames, Iowa 50011, USA
| | - J-Ph Reid
- Département de physique & RQMP, Université de Sherbrooke, Sherbrooke, Canada J1K 2R1
| | - H Shakeripour
- Department of Physics, Isfahan University of Technology, Isfahan 84156-83111, Iran
| | - C Petrovic
- Canadian Institute for Advanced Research, Toronto, Canada M5G 1Z8
- Department of Physics, Brookhaven National Laboratory, Upton, New York 11973, USA
| | - Louis Taillefer
- Canadian Institute for Advanced Research, Toronto, Canada M5G 1Z8
- Département de physique & RQMP, Université de Sherbrooke, Sherbrooke, Canada J1K 2R1
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