Probing the superconducting gap symmetry of $α$-PdBi$_{2}$: A penetration depth study

Abstract

We report measurements of the in-plane London penetration depth $λ$ in single crystals of the $α$-PdBi$_{2}$ superconductor --- the $α$-phase counterpart of the putative topological superconductor $β$-PdBi$_{2}$, down to 0.35~K using a high-resolution tunnel-diode-based technique. Both $λ$ and superfluid density $ρ_{s}$ exhibit an exponential behavior for $T\leq$ 0.35$T_{c}$, with $Δ(0)/k_{B}T_{c}\sim$2.0, $ΔC/γT_{c}$$\sim$2.0 and $λ(0)$$\sim$140~nm, showing that $α$-PdBi$_{2}$ is a moderately-coupling, fully-gapped superconductor. The values of $Δ(0)$ and $ΔC/γT_{c}$ are consistent with each other via strong-coupling corrections.