Field angle-dependent thermal conductivity in nodal superconuctors

Abstract

We apply a semi-classical method to the problem of field angle-dependent oscillations of the density of states and thermal conductivity for nodal superconductors and apply our results to the superconductor PrOs${}_4$Sb${}_{12}$. The oscillatory contributions to the thermal conductivity for all possible point node configurations for a superconductor with $T_h$ symmetry are calculated. It is found that experimental results are best accounted for by nodes in the off-axis directions $[\pm \sin {\varphi }_0,0,\pm \cos {\varphi }_0]$, which are associated with the time-reversal breaking, triplet paired phase $D_2(E)$.

10 pages, 3 figures, 2 tables. Accepted in Phys. Rev. B

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