English

Observation of the Non-linear Meissner Effect

Superconductivity 2025-04-29 v3

Abstract

A long-standing theoretical prediction is that in clean, nodal unconventional superconductors the magnetic penetration depth λ\lambda, at zero temperature, varies linearly with magnetic field. This non-linear Meissner effect is an equally important manifestation of the nodal state as the well studied linear-in-TT dependence of λ\lambda, but has never been convincingly experimentally observed. Here we present measurements of the nodal superconductors CeCoIn5_5 and LaFePO which clearly show this non-linear Meissner effect. We further show how the effect of a small dc magnetic field on λ(T)\lambda(T) can be used to distinguish gap nodes from non-nodal deep gap minima. Our measurements of KFe2_2As2_2 suggest that this material has such a non-nodal state.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.2008.04050,
  title  = {Observation of the Non-linear Meissner Effect},
  author = {J. A. Wilcox and M. J. Grant and L. Malone and C. Putzke and D. Kaczorowski and T. Wolf and F. Hardy and C. Meingast and J. G. Analytis and J. -H. Chu and I. R. Fisher and A. Carrington},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2008.04050},
  year   = {2025}
}
R2 v1 2026-06-23T17:44:49.846Z