English

Bulk evidence for a time reversal symmetry broken superconducting state in URu2Si2

Superconductivity 2013-10-28 v2

Abstract

URu2_2Si2_2 is claimed to be a chiral \emph{d}-wave superconductor with a kz(kx±iky)k_z (k_x \pm ik_y) time-reversal symmetry broken orbital component for the Cooper pair wave-function, which contains both nodal points and lines of nodes \cite{kasahara, kasahara2}. To study the magnetic response of such an unconventional state through a bulk, thermodynamic probe, we measured the magnetic torque τ\tau in very high-quality, well-characterized URu2_2Si2_2 single-crystals \cite{altarawneh,altarawneh2} at high magnetic-fields HH and at very low temperatures TT. The magnetization M(H)τ(H)/HM(H) \propto \tau(H) /H of URu2_2Si2_2, in its superconducting state and for angles within 1515^{\circ} from the \emph{ab}-plane, reveals a change in its sign for HH approaching Hc2H_{c2}: from a clear diamagnetic response dominated by the pinning of vortices to a state with a smaller but "paramagnetic-like" hysteretic response which \emph{disappears} at Hc2H_{c2}, thus implying that it is intrinsically related to the superconducting state. We argue that this anomalous, angular-dependent behavior is evidence for a time-reversal symmetry broken superconducting state in URu2_2Si2_2, although not necessarily for the kz(kx±iky)k_z (k_x \pm ik_y) state.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.1309.7671,
  title  = {Bulk evidence for a time reversal symmetry broken superconducting state in URu2Si2},
  author = {G. Li and Q. Zhang and D. Rhodes and B. Zheng and P. Goswami and R. E. Baumbach and P. H. Tobash and F. Ronning and J. D. Thompson and E. D. Bauer and L. Balicas},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:1309.7671},
  year   = {2013}
}

Comments

7 pages, 5 figures