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Register a new userField-induced quantum critical point and nodal superconductivity in the heavy-fermion superconductor Ce2PdIn8
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The interplay between magnetism and superconductivity has been a central issue in unconventional superconductors. While the dynamic magnetism could be the source of electron pairing, the static magnetism is generally believed to compete with superconductivity. In this sense, the observation of Q phase, the coupled spin-density wave order and superconductivity, in the heavy-fermion superconductor CeCoIn5 is very puzzling. Whether this Q phase origins from the novel Fulde-Ferrel-Larkin-Ovchinnikov state is under hot debate. Here we report the resistivity and thermal conductivity study of a newly discovered heavy-fermion superconductor Ce2PdIn8 down to 50 mK. We find an unusual field-induced quantum critical point at the upper critical field Hc2 and unconventional nodal superconductivity in Ce2PdIn8. The jump of thermal conductivity k(H)/T near Hc2 suggests a first-order-like phase transition at low temperatures. These results mimic the features of the Q phase in CeCoIn5, implying that Ce2PdIn8 is another promising compound to investigate the exotic Q phase and FFLO state. The comparison between CeCoIn5 and Ce2PdIn8 may help to clarify the origin of the Q phase.
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We report field-orientation specific heat studies of the pressure-induced heavy fermion superconductor CeRhIn5. Theses experiments provide the momentum-dependent superconducting gap function for the first time in any pressure-induced superconductor. In the coexisting phase of superconductivity and antiferromagnetism, field rotation within the Ce-In plane reveals four-fold modulation in the density of states, which favors a d-wave order parameter and constrains a theory of the interplay between superconductivity and magnetism.
Understanding the origin of superconductivity in strongly correlated electron systems continues to be at the forefront of unsolved problems in all of physics. Among the heavy f-electron systems, CeCoIn5 is one of the most fascinating, as it shares many of the characteristics of correlated d-electron high-Tc cuprate and pnictide superconductors, including the competition between antiferromagnetism and superconductivity. While there has been evidence for unconventional pairing in this compound, high-resolution spectroscopic measurements of the superconducting state have been lacking. Previously, we have used high-resolution scanning tunneling microscopy techniques to visualize the emergence of heavy-fermion excitations in CeCoIn5 and demonstrate the composite nature of these excitations well above Tc. Here we extend these techniques to much lower temperatures to investigate how superconductivity develops within a strongly correlated band of composite excitations. We find the spectrum of heavy excitations to be strongly modified just prior to the onset of superconductivity by a suppression of the spectral weight near the Fermi energy, reminiscent of the pseudogap state in the cuprates. By measuring the response of superconductivity to various perturbations, through both quasiparticle interference and local pair-breaking experiments, we demonstrate the nodal d-wave character of superconducting pairing in CeCoIn5.
Solution growth of single crystals of the recently reported new compound Ce2PdIn8 was investigated. When growing from a stoichiometry in a range 2:1:20 - 2:1:35, single crystals of CeIn3 covered by a thin (~50 um) single-crystalline layer of Ce2PdIn8 were mostly obtained. Using palladium richer compositions the thickness of the Ce2PdIn8 layers were increased, which allowed mechanical extraction of single-phase slabs of the desired compound suitable for a thorough study of magnetism and superconductivity. In some solution growth products also CePd3In6 (LaNi3In6 - type of structure) and traces of phases with the stoichiometry CePd2In7, Ce1.5Pd1.5In7 (determined only by EDX) have been identified. Magnetic measurements of the Ce2PdIn8 single crystals reveal paramagnetic behaviour of the Ce3+ ions with significant magnetocrystalline anisotropy. Above 70 K the magnetic susceptibility follows the Curie-Weiss law with considerably different values of the paramagnetic Curie temperature, for the magnetic field applied along the a- (-90 K) and c-(-50 K) axis. Below the reported critical temperature for superconductivity Tc (0.69 K) the electrical resistivity drops to zero. Comparative measurements of the electrical resistivity, heat capacity and AC susceptibility of several crystals reveal that the superconducting transition is strongly sample-dependent.
Resistivity and Hall effect measurements of EuFe$_2$As$_2$ up to 3.2,GPa indicate no divergence of quasiparticle effective mass at the pressure $P_mathrm{c}$ where the magnetic and structural transition disappears. This is corroborated by analysis of the temperature ($T$) dependence of the upper critical field. $T$-linear resistivity is observed at pressures slightly above $P_mathrm{c}$. The scattering rates for both electrons and holes are shown to be approximately $T$-linear. When a field is applied, a $T^2$ dependence is recovered, indicating that the origin of the $T$-linear dependence is spin fluctuations.
The heavy fermion CeMIn5 family with M = Co, Rh, Ir provide a prototypical example of strange superconductors with unconventional d-wave pairing and strange metal normal state, emerged near an antiferromagnetic quantum critical point. The microscopic origin of strange superconductor and its link to antiferromagnetic quantum criticality and strange metal state are still open issues. We propose a microscopic mechanism for strange superconductor, based on the coexistence and competition between the Kondo correlation and the quasi-2d short-ranged antiferromagnetic resonating-valence-bond spin-liquid near the antiferromagnetic quantum critical point via a large-N Kondo-Heisenberg model and renormalization group analysis beyond the mean-field level. We find the coexistence (competition) between the two types of correlations well explains the overall features of superconducting and strange metal state. The interplay of these two effects provides a qualitative understanding on how superconductivity emerges from the SM state and the observed superconducting phase diagrams for CeMIn5 near the anti-ferromagnetic quantum critical point.
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