Muon spin rotation measurements of the superfluid density in fresh and aged superconducting PuCoGa${}_5$

Abstract

We have measured the temperature dependence and magnitude of the superfluid density ${\rho }_{\mathrm{s}}(T)$ via the magnetic field penetration depth $\lambda (T)$ in PuCoGa${}_5$ (nominal critical temperature $T_{c0}=18.5$ K) using the muon spin rotation technique in order to investigate the symmetry of the order parameter, and to study the effects of aging on the superconducting properties of a radioactive material. The same single crystals were measured after 25 days ($T_c=18.25$ K) and 400 days ($T_c=15.0$ K) of aging at room temperature. The temperature dependence of the superfluid density is well described in both materials by a model using d-wave gap symmetry. The magnitude of the muon spin relaxation rate $\sigma$ in the aged sample, $\sigma \propto 1/{\lambda }^2\propto {\rho }_s/m^{\ast }$, where $m^{\ast }$ is the effective mass, is reduced by about 70% compared to fresh sample. This indicates that the scattering from self-irradiation induced defects is not in the limit of the conventional Abrikosov-Gor'kov pair-breaking theory, but rather in the limit of short coherence length (about 2 nm in PuCoGa${}_5$) superconductivity.

arXiv comment11 pages

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• Disorder effects in multiorbital $s_{\pm }$-wave superconductors: Implications for Zn-doped BaFe${}_2$As${}_2$ compounds
• Theory of nodal s+- wave pairing symmetry in the Pu-based 115 superconductor family
• Local suppression of the superfluid density of PuCoGa${}_5$ in the Swiss Cheese model
• Superconducting gap structure of the 115's revisited
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