A neutron scattering study of the mixed state of Yb${}_3$Rh${}_4$Sn${}_{13}$

Abstract

Using the small angle neutron scattering (SANS) technique we investigated the vortex lattice (VL) in the mixed state of the stannide superconductor Yb${}_3$Rh${}_4$Sn${}_{13}$. We find a single domain VL of slightly distorted hexagonal geometry for field strengths between 350 and 18500 G and temperatures between T = 0.05 and T = 6.5 K. We observe a clear in-plane rotation of the VL for different magnetic field directions relative to the crystallographic axes. We also find that the hexagonal symmetry of the VL is energetically favorable in Yb${}_3$Rh${}_4$Sn${}_{13}$ for external fields oriented along axes of different symmetries: twofold [110], threefold [111] and fourfold [100]. The observed behavior is different from other conventional and unconventional superconductors. The superconducting state is characterized by an isotropic gapped order parameter with an amplitude of $\Delta (0)$ = 1.57 $\pm$ 0.05 meV. At the lowest temperatures the field dependence of the magnetic form factor in our material reveals a London penetration depth of ${\lambda }_L$ = 2508 $\pm$ 17 $\mathring{A}$ and a Ginzburg coherence length of $\xi$ = 100 $\pm$ 1.3 $\mathring{A}$, i.e., it is a strongly type-II superconductor, $\kappa$ = ${\lambda }_L/\xi$ = 25.

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Cited by in corpus (3)

• Crystal structure and phonon softening in Ca3Ir4Sn13
• Nodeless superconductivity and the peak effect in the quasi-skutterudites ${\mathrm{Lu}}_3{\mathrm{Os}}_4{\mathrm{Ge}}_{13}$ and ${\mathrm{Y}}_3{\mathrm{Ru}}_4{\mathrm{Ge}}_{13}$
• Distinct vortex-glass phases in Yb${}_3$Rh${}_4$Sn${}_{13}$ at high and low magnetic fields