Specific-heat evidence of the first-order superconducting transition in Sr2RuO4

Abstract

We investigate the specific heat of ultra-pure single crystals of Sr2RuO4, a leading candidate of a spin-triplet superconductor. We for the first time obtained specific-heat evidence of the first-order superconducting transition below 0.8 K, namely divergent-like peaks and clear hysteresis in the specific heat at the upper critical field. The first-order transition occurs for all in-plane field directions. The specific-heat features for the first-order transition are found to be highly sensitive to sample quality; in particular, the hysteresis becomes totally absent in a sample with slightly lower quality. These thermodynamic observations provide crucial bases to understand the unconventional pair-breaking effect responsible for the first-order transition.

arXiv comment5 pages, 4 figures; to appear in the Letter Section of J. Phys. Soc. Jpn

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• Searching for gap zeros in Sr2RuO4 via field-angle-dependent specific-heat measurement
• Superconducting Symmetries of Sr${}_2$RuO${}_4$ from First-Principles Electronic Structure
• Sharp magnetization jump at the first-order superconducting transition in Sr2RuO4
• Little-Parks oscillations with half-quantum fluxoid features in Sr2RuO4 micro rings
• Possible three-dimensional nematic odd-parity superconductivity in Sr${}_2$RuO${}_4$
• Exotic Cooper pairing in multi-orbital models of Sr${}_2$RuO${}_4$
• Superconducting pairing in Sr${}_2$RuO${}_4$ from weak to intermediate coupling
• Higher-Tc Superconducting Phase in Sr2RuO4 Induced by In-Plane Uniaxial Pressure
• Pauli-paramagnetic effects on mixed state properties in a strongly anisotropic superconductor ---Application to Sr_2_RuO_4_---
• Constraints on the superconducting state of Sr${}_2$RuO${}_4$ from elastocaloric measurements
• Identifying possible pairing states in Sr${}_2$RuO${}_4$ by tunneling spectroscopy
• A note on the upper critical field of Sr${}_2$RuO${}_4$ under strain
• Hidden anomalous Hall effect in Sr${}_2$RuO${}_4$ with chiral superconductivity dominated by the Ru $d_{xy}$ orbital
• Field-rotational magnetocaloric effect: A new experimental technique for accurate measurement of the anisotropic magnetic entropy
• Interplay between effective mass anisotropy and Pauli paramagnetic effects in a multiband superconductor--Application to Sr2RuO4--
• Absence of ${}^{17}$O Knight-Shift Changes across the First-Order Phase Transition Line in Sr${}_2$RuO${}_4$
• Competition between d-wave superconductivity and magnetism in uniaxially strained Sr2RuO4
• Possibility of mixed helical p-wave pairings in Sr${}_2$RuO${}_4$
• Multiple odd-parity superconducting phases in bilayer transition metal dichalcogenides
• A review of some new perspectives on the theory of superconducting Sr${}_2$RuO${}_4$
• Microscopic Eilenberger theory of Fulde-Ferrell-Larkin-Ovchinnikov states in the presence of vortices
• Quenched metastable vortex states in Sr2RuO4
• Theoretical studies for identifying horizontal line nodes via angle-resolved density of states measurements ---Application to Sr${}_2$RuO${}_4$---
• $T_c$ and Pauli limited critical field of ${\text{Sr}}_2\text{Ru}{\text{O}}_4$: uniaxial strain dependence
• Examining the possibility of chiral superconductivity in Sr${}_2$RuO${}_4$ and other compounds via applied supercurrent
• Distinguishing $d_{xz}+i{d}_{yz}$ and $d_{x^2-y^2}$ pairing in $S{r}_{2}Ru{O}_4$ by high magnetic field H-T phase diagrams
• High-resolution magnetostriction measurements of the Pauli-limited superconductor Sr2RuO4