Probing the superconducting pairing of the La$_{4}$Be$_{33}$Pt$_{16}$ alloy via muon-spin spectroscopy

Abstract

We report a study of the superconducting pairing of the noncentrosymmetric La$_{4}$Be$_{33}$Pt$_{16}$ alloy using muon-spin rotation and relaxation ($\mu$SR) technique. Below $T_c = 2.4$ K, La$_{4}$Be$_{33}$Pt$_{16}$ exhibits bulk superconductivity (SC), here characterized by heat-capacity and magnetic-susceptibility measurements. The temperature dependence of the superfluid density $\rho_\mathrm{sc}(T)$, extracted from the transverse-field {\textmu}SR measurements, reveals a nodeless SC in La$_{4}$Be$_{33}$Pt$_{16}$. The best fit of $\rho_\mathrm{sc}(T)$ using an $s$-wave model yields a magnetic penetration depth $\lambda_0 = 542$ nm and a superconducting gap $\Delta_0 = 0.37$ meV at zero Kelvin. The single-gapped superconducting state is further evidenced by the temperature-dependent electronic specific heat $C_\mathrm{e}(T)/T$ and the linear field-dependent electronic specific-heat coefficient $\gamma_\mathrm{H}(H)$. The zero-field $\mu$SR spectra collected in the normal- and superconducting states of La$_{4}$Be$_{33}$Pt$_{16}$ are almost identical, confirming the absence of an additional field-related relaxation and, thus, of spontaneous magnetic fields below $T_c$. The nodeless SC combined with a preserved time-reversal symmetry in the superconducting state prove that the spin-singlet pairing is dominant in La$_{4}$Be$_{33}$Pt$_{16}$. This material represents yet another example of a complex system showing only a conventional behavior, in spite of a noncentrosymmetric structure and a sizeable spin-orbit coupling.