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Penetration depth, symmetry breaking, and gap nodes in superconducting PrOs4Sb12

Lei Shu·D. E. MacLaughlin·R. H. Heffner·G. D. Morris·O. O. Bernal·F. Callaghan·J. E. Sonier·A. Bosse·J. E. Anderson·W. M. Yuhasz·N. A. Frederick·M. B. Maple
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Abstract

Transverse-field muon spin relaxation rates in single crystals of the heavy-fermion superconductor PrOs4Sb12 (Tc = 1.85 K) are nearly constant in the vortex state for temperatures below ~0.5Tc. This suggests that the superconducting penetration depth lambda(T) is temperature-independent at low temperatures, consistent with a gapped quasiparticle excitation spectrum. In contrast, radiofrequency measurements yield a stronger temperature dependence of lambda(T), indicative of point nodes in the gap. A similar discrepancy exists in superconducting Sr2RuO4 which, like PrOs4Sb12, breaks time-reversal symmetry (TRS) below Tc, but not in a number of non-TRS-breaking superconductors.

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Lei Shu, D. E. MacLaughlin, R. H. Heffner, G. D. Morris, O. O. Bernal, F. Callaghan, J. E. Sonier, A. Bosse, J. E. Anderson, W. M. Yuhasz, N. A. Frederick, M. B. Maple. 2005-02-09. Penetration depth, symmetry breaking, and gap nodes in superconducting PrOs4Sb12. https://arxiv.org/abs/cond-mat/0502226

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