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Register a new userMuon spin rotation measurements of the superfluid density in fresh and aged superconducting PuCoGa$_5$
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We have measured the temperature dependence and magnitude of the superfluid density $rho_{rm s}(T)$ via the magnetic field penetration depth $lambda(T)$ in PuCoGa$_5$ (nominal critical temperature $T_{c0} = 18.5$ K) using the muon spin rotation technique in order to investigate the symmetry of the order parameter, and to study the effects of aging on the superconducting properties of a radioactive material. The same single crystals were measured after 25 days ($T_c = 18.25$ K) and 400 days ($T_c = 15.0$ K) of aging at room temperature. The temperature dependence of the superfluid density is well described in both materials by a model using d-wave gap symmetry. The magnitude of the muon spin relaxation rate $sigma$ in the aged sample, $sigmapropto 1/lambda^2proptorho_s/m^*$, where $m^*$ is the effective mass, is reduced by about 70% compared to fresh sample. This indicates that the scattering from self-irradiation induced defects is not in the limit of the conventional Abrikosov-Gorkov pair-breaking theory, but rather in the limit of short coherence length (about 2 nm in PuCoGa$_5$) superconductivity.
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Transverse-field muon spin rotation measurements of overdoped La2-xSrxCuO4 reveal a large broadening of the local magnetic field distribution in response to applied field, persisting to high temperatures. The field-response is approximately Curie-Weiss like in temperature and is largest for the highest doping investigated. Such behaviour is contrary to the canonical Fermi-liquid picture commonly associated with the overdoped cuprates and implies extensive heterogeneity in this region of the phase diagram. A possible explanation for the result lies in regions of staggered magnetization about dopant cations, analogous to what is argued to exist in underdoped systems.
PuCoGa$_5$ has emerged as a prototypical heavy-fermion superconductor, with its transition temperature ($T_csimeq18.5$ K) being the highest amongst such materials. Nonetheless, a clear description as to what drives the superconducting pairing is still lacking, rendered complicated by the notoriously intricate nature of plutoniums 5$f$ valence electrons. Here, we present a detailed $^{69,71}$Ga nuclear quadrupole resonance (NQR) study of PuCoGa$_5$, concentrating on the systems normal state properties near to $T_c$ and aiming to detect distinct signatures of possible pairing mechanisms. In particular, the quadrupole frequency and spin-lattice relaxation rate were measured for the two crystallographically inequivalent Ga sites and for both Ga isotopes, in the temperature range 1.6 K - 300 K. No evidence of significant charge fluctuations is found from the NQR observables. On the contrary, the low-energy dynamics is dominated by anisotropic spin fluctuations with strong, nearly critical, in-plane character, which are effectively identical to the case of the sister compound PuCoIn$_5$. These findings are discussed within the context of different theoretical proposals for the unconventional pairing mechanism in heavy-fermion superconductors.
Using the transverse field muon spin relaxation technique we measure the temperature dependence of the magnetic field penetration depth $lambda$, in the Na$_{x}$CoO$_{2}cdot y$H$_{2}$O system. We find that $lambda,$ which is determined by superfluid density $n_{s}$ and the effective mass $m^{ast}$, is very small and on the edge of the TF-$mu$SR sensitivity. Nevertheless, the results indicate that the order parameter in this system has nodes and that it obeys the Uemura relation. By comparing $lambda$ with the normal state electron density we conclude that $m^{ast}$ of the superconductivity carrier is 70 times larger than the mass of bare electrons.
Muon spin rotation and relaxation ($mu$SR) experiments have been carried out to characterize magnetic and superconducting ground states in the Pr$_{1-x}$Nd$_x$Os$_4$Sb$_{12}$ alloy series. In the ferromagnetic end compound NdOs$_4$Sb$_{12}$ the spontaneous local field at positive-muon ($mu^+$) sites below the ordering temperature $T_C$ is greater than expected from dipolar coupling to ferromagnetically aligned Nd$^{3+}$ moments, indicating an additional indirect RKKY-like transferred hyperfine mechanism. For 0.45 $le x le$ 0.75, $mu^+$ spin relaxation rates in zero and weak longitudinal applied fields indicate that static fields at $mu^+$ sites below $T_C$ are reduced and strongly disordered. We argue this is unlikely to be due to reduction of Nd$^{3+}$ moments, and speculate that the Nd$^{3+}$-$mu^+$ interaction is suppressed and disordered by Pr doping. In an $x$ = 0.25 sample, which is superconducting below $T_c$ = 1.3 K, there is no sign of spin freezing (static Nd$^{3+}$ magnetism), ordered or disordered, down to 25 mK. Dynamic $mu^+$ spin relaxation is strong, indicating significant Nd-moment fluctuations. The $mu^+$ diamagnetic frequency shift and spin relaxation in the superconducting vortex-lattice phase decrease slowly below $T_c$, suggesting pair breaking and/or possible modification of Fermi-liquid renormalization by Nd spin fluctuations. For 0.25 $le x le$ 0.75, the $mu$SR data provide evidence against phase separation; superconductivity and Nd$^{3+}$ magnetism coexist on the atomic scale.
We investigate the normal state of the superconducting compound PuCoGa$_5$ using the combination of density functional theory (DFT) and dynamical mean field theory (DMFT), with the continuous time quantum Monte Carlo (CTQMC) and the vertex-corrected one-crossing approximation (OCA) as the impurity solvers. Our DFT+DMFT(CTQMC) calculations suggest a strong tendency of Pu-5$f$ orbitals to differentiate at low temperatures. The renormalized 5$f_{5/2}$ states exhibit a Fermi-liquid behavior whereas one electron in the 5$f_{7/2}$ states is at the edge of a Mott localization. We find that the orbital differentiation is manifested as the removing of 5$f_{7/2}$ spectral weight from the Fermi level relative to DFT. We corroborate these conclusions with DFT+DMFT(OCA) calculations which demonstrate that 5$f_{5/2}$ electrons have a much larger Kondo scale than the 5$f_{7/2}$.
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