A theory of new type of heavy-electron superconductivity in PrOs_4Sb_12: quadrupolar-fluctuation mediated odd-parity pairings

Abstract

It is shown that unconventional nature of superconducting state of PrOs_4Sb_12, a Pr-based heavy electron compound with the filled-Skutterudite structure, can be explained in a unified way by taking into account the structure of the crystalline-electric-field (CEF) level, the shape of the Fermi surface determined by the band structure calculation, and a picture of the quasiparticles in f${}^2$-configuration with magnetically singlet CEF ground state. Possible types of pairing are narrowed down by consulting recent experimental results. In particular, the chiral "p"-wave states such as p_x+ip_y is favoured under the magnetic field due to the orbital Zeeman effect, while the "p"-wave states with two-fold symmetery such as p_x can be stabilized by a feedback effect without the magnetic field. It is also discussed that the double superconducting transition without the magnetic field is possible due to the spin-orbit coupling of the "triplet" Cooper pairs in the chiral state.

arXiv comment12 pages, 2 figures, submitted to J. Phys.: Condens. Matter Letter

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Cited by in corpus (19)

• Superconducting phase diagram of the filled skuterrudite PrOs4Sb12
• Unconventional superconducting gap structure protected by space group symmetry
• Superconducting states in the tetrahedral compound PrOs4Sb12
• Suppression of time reversal symmetry breaking superconductivity in Pr(Os,Ru)_4Sb_12 and (Pr,La)Os_4Sb_12
• Time Reversal Symmetry Breaking in the B Phase of the Heavy Fermion Superconductor PrOs${}_4$Sb${}_{12}$
• Triplet superconductivity in the skutterudite PrOs_4Sb_12
• Penetration depth, multiband superconductivity, and absence of muon-induced perturbation in superconducting PrOs${}_4$Sb${}_{12}$
• Muon spin relaxation and hyperfine-enhanced 141Pr nuclear spin dynamic in Pr(Os,Ru)4Sb12 and (Pr,La)Os4Sb12
• Symmetry properties of the nodal superconductor PrOs4Sb12
• 123Sb-NQR study of unconventional superconductivity in the filled skutterudite heavy-fermion compound PrOs4Sb12 under high pressure up to P = 3.82 GPa
• Field dependent mass enhancement in Pr_{1-x}La_xOs_4Sb_12 from aspherical Coulomb scattering
• Distinct Kondo Screening Behaviors in Heavy Fermion Filled Skutterudites with 4f1 and 4f2 Configurations
• Simultaneous collapse of antiferroquadrupolar order and superconductivity in PrIr${}_2$Zn${}_{20}$ by nonhydrostatic pressure
• Fermi-surface topologies and low-temperature phases of the filled Skutterudite compounds CeOs${}_4$Sb${}_{12}$ and NdOs${}_4$Sb${}_{12}$
• Microscopic theories for cubic and tetrahedral superconductors: application to PrOs_4Sb_{12}
• Time-reversal symmetry violation and the structure of Superconducting Order Parameter of PrOs${}_4$Sb${}_{12}$
• Muon spin rotation and relaxation in Pr${}_{1-x}$Nd${}_x$Os${}_4$Sb${}_{12}$: Paramagnetic states
• Multipole Fluctuations in Filled Skutterudites
• Low energy inelastic response in the superconducting phases of $PrO{s}_{4}S{b}_{12}$