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arXiv · cond-mat/0702130

Spin Triplet Superconducting State due to Broken Inversion Symmetry in Li_2Pt_3B

Abstract

We report ^{11}B and ^{195}Pt NMR measurements in non-centrosymmetric superconductor Li_2Pt_3B. We find that the spin susceptibility measured by the Knight shift remains unchanged across the superconducting transition temperature T_c. With decreasing temperature (T) below T_c, the spin-lattice relaxation rate 1/T_1 decreases with no coherence peak and is in proportion to T^3. These results indicate that the Cooper pair is in the spin-triplet state and that there exist line nodes in the superconducting gap function. They are in sharp contrast with those in the isostructural Li_2Pd_3B which is a spin-singlet, s-wave superconductor, and are ascribed to the enhanced spin-orbit coupling due to the lack of spatial inversion symmetry. Our finding points to a new paradigm where exotic superconductivity arises in the absence of strong electron-electron correlations.

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M. Nishiyama, Y. Inada, Guo-qing Zheng. 2007-02-06. Spin Triplet Superconducting State due to Broken Inversion Symmetry in Li_2Pt_3B. https://doi.org/10.1103/physrevlett.98.047002

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