Nodal gap structure and order parameter symmetry of the unconventional superconductor UPt 3

Spanning a broad range of physical systems, complex symmetry breaking is widely recognized as a hallmark of competing interactions. This is exemplified in superfluid ³He which has multiple thermodynamic phases with spin and orbital quantum numbers S = 1 and L = 1, that emerge on cooling from a nearl...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:New journal of physics 2015-02, Vol.17 (2), p.23041
Main Authors: Gannon, W J, Halperin, W P, Rastovski, C, Schlesinger, K J, Hlevyack, J, Eskildsen, M R, Vorontsov, A B, Gavilano, J, Gasser, U, Nagy, G
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
heavy fermion
MATERIALS SCIENCE
SANS
superconductivity
UPt
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Summary:Spanning a broad range of physical systems, complex symmetry breaking is widely recognized as a hallmark of competing interactions. This is exemplified in superfluid ³He which has multiple thermodynamic phases with spin and orbital quantum numbers S = 1 and L = 1, that emerge on cooling from a nearly ferromagnetic Fermi liquid. The heavy fermion compound UPt₃ exhibits similar behavior clearly manifest in its multiple superconducting phases. However, consensus as to its order parameter symmetry has remained elusive. Our small angle neutron scattering measurements indicate a linear temperature dependence of the London penetration depth characteristic of nodal structure of the order parameter. Our theoretical analysis is consistent with assignment of its symmetry to an L = 3 odd parity state for which one of the three thermodynamic phases in non-zero magnetic field is chiral.
ISSN:1367-2630
1367-2630
DOI:10.1088/1367-2630/17/2/023041