Evidence for broken time-reversal symmetry in the superconducting phase of URu sub(2)Si sub(2)

Recent experimental and theoretical interest in the superconducting phase of the heavy-fermion material URu sub(2) Si sub(2) has led to a number of proposals in which the superconducting order parameter breaks time-reversal symmetry (TRS). In this study we measure the polar Kerr effect (PKE) as a fu...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Physical review. B, Condensed matter and materials physics Condensed matter and materials physics, 2015-04, Vol.91 (14)
Main Authors: Schemm, E R, Baumbach, R E, Tobash, P H, Ronning, F, Bauer, E D, Kapitulnik, A
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Breaking
Condensed matter
Kerr effects
Order parameters
Proposals
Single crystals
Superconductivity
Symmetry
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:Recent experimental and theoretical interest in the superconducting phase of the heavy-fermion material URu sub(2) Si sub(2) has led to a number of proposals in which the superconducting order parameter breaks time-reversal symmetry (TRS). In this study we measure the polar Kerr effect (PKE) as a function of temperature for several high-quality single crystals of . We find an onset of PKE below the superconducting transition that is consistent with a TRS-breaking order parameter. This effect appears to be independent of an additional, possibly extrinsic, PKE generated above the hidden order transition at T sub(HO) = 17.5 K, and contains a structure below T sub(c) suggestive of additional physics within the superconducting state.
ISSN:1098-0121
1550-235X