Low-Temperature Thermal Conductivity of CeRh${}_2$As${}_2$

Abstract

CeRh${}_2$As${}_2$ is a rare unconventional superconductor ($T_c=0.26$ K) characterized by two adjacent superconducting phases for a magnetic field $H\parallel c$-axis of the tetragonal crystal structure. Antiferromagnetic order, quadrupole-density-wave order ($T_0=0.4$ K) and the proximity of this material to a quantum-critical point have also been reported: The coexistence of these phenomena with superconductivity is currently under discussion. Here, we present thermal conductivity and electrical resistivity measurements on a single crystal of CeRh${}_2$As${}_2$ between 60 mK and 200 K and in magnetic fields ($H\parallel c$) up to 8 T. Our measurements at low $T$ verify the Wiedemann-Franz law within the error bars. The $T$ dependence of the thermal conductivity $\kappa (T)$ shows a pronounced drop below $T_c$ which is also field dependent and thus interpreted as the signature of superconductivity. However, the large residual resistivity and the lack of sharp anomalies in $\kappa (T)$ at the expected transition temperatures clearly indicate that samples of much higher purity are required to gain more information about the superconducting gap structure.

11 pages, 3 figures

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• Observation of antiferromagnetic order as odd-parity multipoles inside the superconducting phase in CeRh${}_2$As${}_2$
• Field-angle dependence reveals odd-parity superconductivity in CeRh${}_2$As${}_2$
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Cited by in corpus (18)

• Field-angle dependence reveals odd-parity superconductivity in CeRh${}_2$As${}_2$
• Even-odd parity transition in strongly correlated locally noncentrosymmetric superconductors : An application to CeRh${}_2$As${}_2$
• Violation of the Pauli-Clogston limit in a heavy Fermion superconductor CeRh${}_2$As${}_2$ --Duality of itinerant and localized 4f electrons--
• Parity transition of spin-singlet superconductivity using sub-lattice degrees of freedom
• Discovery of magnetic phase transitions in heavy-fermion superconductor CeRh${}_2$As${}_2$
• Decoupling multi-phase superconductivity from normal state ordering in CeRh${}_2$As${}_2$
• Coexistence of near-EF flat band and van Hove singularity in a two-phase superconductor
• Correlation-induced Fermi surface evolution and topological crystalline superconductivity in CeRh2As2
• Exploring Fermi Surface Nesting and the Nature of Heavy Quasiparticles in the Spin-Triplet Superconductor Candidate CeRh${}_2$As${}_2$
• Kramers' degenerate magnetism and superconductivity
• Exposing the odd-parity superconductivity in CeRh${}_2$As${}_2$ with hydrostatic pressure
• Effects of nucleation at a first-order transition between two superconducting phases: Application to CeRh${}_2$As${}_2$
• Field-induced superconductivity mediated by odd-parity multipole fluctuation
• Superconducting meron phase in locally noncentrosymmetric superconductors
• Reciprocal and nonreciprocal paraconductivity in bilayer multiphase superconductors
• Near-flat-band-driven violation of Pauli limit in heavy fermion superconductors
• Multipolar fluctuations from localized 4f electrons in CeRh2As2
• Quantum geometric magnetic monopole and two-phase superconductivity in CeRh${}_2$As${}_2$