Superconducting Gap Function in Antiferromagnetic Heavy-Fermion UPd_2Al_3 Probed by Angle Resolved Magnetothermal Transport Measurements


Abstract in English

The superconducting gap structure of heavy fermion UPd_2Al_3, in which unconventional superconductivity coexists with antiferromagnetic (AF) order with atomic size local moments, was investigated by the thermal conductivity measurements in a magnetic field rotating in various directions relative to the crystal axes. The results provide strong evidence that the gap function Delta(k) has a single line node orthogonal to the c-axis located at the AF Brillouin zone boundary, while Delta(k) is isotropic within the basal plane. The determined nodal structure is compatible with the resonance peak in the dynamical susceptibility observed in neutron inelastic scattering experiments. Based on these results, we conclude that the superconducting pairing function of UPd_2Al_3 is most likely to be d-wave with a form Delta(k)=Delta_0 cos(k_zc)

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