Muon spin relaxation and isotropic pairing in superconducting PrOs4Sb12

Transverse-field muon-spin rotation measurements in the vortex-lattice of the heavy-fermion (HF) superconductor PrOs4Sb12 yield a temperature dependence of the magnetic penetration depth lambda indicative of an isotropic or nearly isotropic energy gap. This is not seen to date in any other HF superc...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Physical review letters 2002-10, Vol.89 (15), p.157001-157001
Main Authors: MacLaughlin, D E, Sonier, J E, Heffner, R H, Bernal, O O, Young, Ben-Li, Rose, M S, Morris, G D, Bauer, E D, Do, T D, Maple, M B
Format: Article
Language:English
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Summary:Transverse-field muon-spin rotation measurements in the vortex-lattice of the heavy-fermion (HF) superconductor PrOs4Sb12 yield a temperature dependence of the magnetic penetration depth lambda indicative of an isotropic or nearly isotropic energy gap. This is not seen to date in any other HF superconductor and is a signature of isotropic pairing symmetry, possibly related to a novel nonmagnetic "quadrupolar Kondo" HF mechanism in PrOs4Sb12. The T=0 relaxation rate sigma(s)(0)=0.91(1) micros(-1) yields an estimated magnetic penetration depth lambda(0)=3440(20) A, which is considerably shorter than in other HF superconductors.
ISSN:0031-9007
DOI:10.1103/PhysRevLett.89.157001