Hybrid gap structure of the heavy-fermion superconductor CeIrIn5

The thermal conductivity kappa of the heavy-fermion superconductor CeIrIn5 was measured as a function of temperature down to T(c)/8, for current directions parallel (J parallel c) and perpendicular (J parallel a) to the tetragonal c axis. For J parallel a, a sizable residual linear term kappa(0)/T i...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Physical review letters 2007-11, Vol.99 (18), p.187004-187004
Main Authors: Shakeripour, H, Tanatar, M A, Li, S Y, Petrovic, C, Taillefer, Louis
Format: Article
Language:English
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Summary:The thermal conductivity kappa of the heavy-fermion superconductor CeIrIn5 was measured as a function of temperature down to T(c)/8, for current directions parallel (J parallel c) and perpendicular (J parallel a) to the tetragonal c axis. For J parallel a, a sizable residual linear term kappa(0)/T is observed, as previously, which confirms the presence of line nodes in the superconducting gap. For J parallel c, on the other hand, kappa/T-->0 as T-->0. The resulting precipitous decline in the anisotropy ratio kappa(c)/kappa(a) at low temperature rules out a gap structure with line nodes running along the c axis, such as the d-wave state favored for CeCoIn5, and instead points to a hybrid gap of E(g) symmetry.
ISSN:0031-9007
DOI:10.1103/PhysRevLett.99.187004