The Missing Link: Magnetism and Superconductivity

Abstract

The effect of magnetic moments on superconductivity has long been a controversial subject in condensed matter physics. While Matthias and collaborators experimentally demonstrated the destruction of superconductivity in La by the addition of magnetic moments (Gd), it has since been suggested that magnetic fluctuations are in fact responsible for the development of superconducting order in other systems. Currently this debate is focused on several families of unconventional superconductors including high-Tc cuprates, borocarbides as well as heavy fermion systems where magnetism and superconductivity are known to coexist. Here we report a novel aspect of competition and coexistence of these two competing orders in an interesting class of heavy fermion compounds, namely the 1-1-5 series: CeTIn5 where T=Co, Ir, or Rh. Our optical experiments indicate the existence of regions in momentum space where local moments remain unscreened. The extent of these regions in momentum space appears to control both the normal and superconducting state properties in the 1-1-5 family of heavy fermion (HF) superconductors.

6 pages, 2 figures

References in corpus (6)

• Quantum criticality
• Hidden Magnetism and Quantum Criticality in the Heavy Fermion Superconductor CeRhIn5
• Unpaired Electrons in the Heavy-Fermion Superconductor CeCoIn_{5}
• Direct observation of quasi-particle band in CeIrIn${}_5$: Angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy study
• Optical study of interactions in a d-electron Kondo lattice with ferromagnetism
• Heavy fermion fluid in high magnetic fields: an infrared study of CeRu${}_4$Sb${}_{12}$

Cited by in corpus (5)

• Modelling the Localized to Itinerant Electronic Transition in the Heavy Fermion System CeIrIn5
• T=0 heavy fermion quantum critical point as an orbital selective Mott transition
• Determining the crystal-field ground state in rare earth Heavy Fermion materials using soft-x-ray absorption spectroscopy
• Heavy-fermion metals with hybridization nodes: Unconventional Fermi liquids and competing phases
• Angle dependent quasiparticle weights in correlated metals