No Arabic abstract
We have studied the quasiparticle excitation spectrum of the superconductor Ba8Si46 by local tunneling spectroscopy. Using high energy resolution achieved in Superconductor-Superconductor junctions we observed tunneling conductance spectra of a non-conventional shape revealing two distinct energy gaps, DeltaL = 1.3meV and DeltaS = 0.9meV. The analysis of tunneling data evidenced that DeltaL is the principal superconducting gap while DeltaS, smaller and more dispersive, is induced into an intrinsically non-superconducting band of the material by the inter-band quasiparticle scattering.
The recently discovered kagome superconductor CsV$_3$Sb$_5$ ($T_c simeq 2.5$ K) has been found to host charge order as well as a non-trivial band topology, encompassing multiple Dirac points and probable surface states. Such a complex and phenomenologically rich system is, therefore, an ideal playground for observing unusual electronic phases. Here, we report on microscopic studies of its anisotropic superconducting properties by means of transverse-field muon spin rotation ($mu$SR) experiments. The temperature dependences of the in-plane and out-of-plane components of the magnetic penetration depth $lambda_{ab}^{-2}(T)$ and $lambda_{c}^{-2}(T)$ indicate that the superconducting order parameter exhibits a two-gap ($s+s$)-wave symmetry, reflecting the multiple Fermi surfaces of CsV3Sb5. The multiband nature of its superconductivity is further validated by the different temperature dependences of the anisotropic magnetic penetration depth $gamma_lambda(T)$ and upper critical field $gamma_{rm B_{c2}}(T)$, both in close analogy with the well known two-gap superconductor MgB$_2$. Remarkably, the high value of the $T_c/lambda^{-2}(0)$ ratio in both field orientations strongly suggests the unconventional nature of superconductivity. The relaxation rates obtained from zero field $mu$SR experiments do not show noticeable change across the superconducting transition, indicating that superconductivity does not break time reversal symmetry.
The superconducting properties of the recently discovered double Fe$_2$As$_2$ layered high-$T_c$ superconductor RbCa$_2$Fe$_4$As$_4$F$_2$ with $T_capprox$ 30~K have been investigated using magnetization, heat capacity, transverse-field (TF) and zero-field (ZF) muon-spin rotation/relaxation ($mu$SR) measurements. Our low field magnetization measurements and heat capacity (C$_p$) reveal an onset of bulk superconductivity with $T_{bf c}sim$ 30.0(4) K. Furthermore, the heat capacity exhibits a jump at $T_{bf c}$ of $Delta$C$_p$/$T_{bf c}$=94.6 (mJ/mole-K$^2$) and no clear effect of applied magnetic fields was observed on C$_p$(T) up to 9 T between 2 K and 5 K. Our analysis of the TF-$mu$SR results shows that the temperature dependence of the magnetic penetration depth is better described by a two-gap model, either isotropic $s$+$s$-wave or $s$+$d$-wave than a single gap isotropic $s$-wave or $d$-wave model for the superconducting gap. The presence of two superconducting gaps in RbCa$_2$Fe$_4$As$_4$F$_2$ suggests a multiband nature of the superconductivity, which is consistent with the multigap superconductivity observed in other Fe-based superconductors, including ACa$_2$Fe$_4$As$_4$F$_2$ (A=K and Cs). Furthermore, from our TF-$mu$SR study we have estimated an in-plane penetration depth $lambda_{mathrm{ab}}$$(0)$ =231.5(3) nm, superconducting carrier density $n_s = 7.45 times 10^{26}~ $m$^{-3}$, and carriers effective-mass $m^*$ = 2.45textit{m}$_{e}$. Our ZF $mu$SR measurements do not reveal a clear sign of time reversal symmetry breaking at $T_{bf c}$, but the temperature dependent relaxation between 150 K and 1.2 K might indicate the presence of spin-fluctuations. The results of our present study have been compared with those reported for other Fe pnictide superconductors.
We report a detailed study of specific heat, electrical resistivity and thermal expansion in combination with inelastic neutron and inelastic X-ray scattering to investigate the origin of superconductivity in the two silicon clathrate superconductors Ba8Si46 and Ba24Si100. Both compounds have a similar structure based on encaged barium atoms in oversized silicon cages. However, the transition temperatures are rather different: 8 K and 1.5 K respectively. By extracting the superconducting properties, phonon density of states, electron-phonon coupling function and phonon anharmonicity from these measurements we discuss the important factors governing Tc and explain the difference between the two compounds.
Recently, a new family of iron-based superconductors called 12442 was discovered and the muon spin relaxation ($mu$SR) measurements on KCa$_2$Fe$_4$As$_4$F$_2$ and CsCa$_2$Fe$_4$As$_4$F$_2$ polycrystals, two members of the family, indicated that both have a nodal superconducting gap structure with $s+d$ pairing symmetry. Here we report the ultralow-temperature thermal conductivity measurements on CsCa$_2$Fe$_4$As$_4$F$_2$ single crystals ($T_c$ = 29.3 K). A negligible residual linear term $kappa_0/T$ in zero field and the field dependence of $kappa_0/T$ suggest multiple nodeless superconducting gaps in CsCa$_2$Fe$_4$As$_4$F$_2$. This gap structure is similar to CaKFe$_4$As$_4$ and moderately doped Ba$_{1-x}$K$_x$Fe$_2$As$_2$, but contrasts to the nodal gap structure indicated by the $mu$SR measurements on CsCa$_2$Fe$_4$As$_4$F$_2$ polycrystals.
We investigate the temperature dependence of the lower critical field $H_{c1}(T)$, the field at which vortices penetrate into the sample, of a high-quality fluorine-doped NdFeAsO single crystal under static magnetic fields $H$ parallel to the $c$-axis. The temperature dependence of the first vortex penetration field has been experimentally obtained and pronounced changes of the $H_{c1}$(T) curvature are observed, which is attributed to the multiband superconductivity. Using a two-band model with $s$-wave-like gaps, the temperature-dependence of the lower critical field $H_{c1}(T)$ can be well described. These observations clearly show that the superconducting energy gap in fluorine-doped NdFeAsO is nodeless. The values of the penetration depth at $T$ = 0,K have been determined and confirm that the pnictide superconductors obey an Uemura-style relationship between $T_{c}$ and $lambda_{ab}(0)^{-2}$