Identifying multi-component superconductivity with resonant ultrasound spectroscopyIdentifying multi-component superconductivity with resonant ultrasound spectroscopy

 · Invited

Abstract

Superconductors can break time-reversal symmetry (TRS) when their order parameter has two degenerate components, or “representations”—perhaps the most famous example of this is the px+ipy state. Most experiments that investigate TRS-breaking superconductivity look for signatures of magnetism—very few experiments are capable of determining the order parameter degeneracy directly. A discontinuity in a shear elastic modulus at Tc is one of the few direct experimental test for two-component superconductivity, and recent advances in resonant ultrasound spectroscopy (RUS) have allowed us to measure the entire elastic tensor with high precision and at low temperature. Using RUS we have discovered that Sr2RuO4 has a two-component order parameter, even though recent NMR measurements rule out the px+ipy state. This suggests an unconventional {dxz, dyz} order parameter, or perhaps even the accidental degeneracy of dx2-y2 and gxy(x2-y2). We have also investigated the proposed TRS-breaking superconductor UTe2, where heat capacity measurements find two superconducting transitions that suggest two nearly-degenerate order parameters.

*Office of Basic Energy Sciences of the United States Department of Energy under award no. DE-SC0020143

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Presenters

  • Brad Ramshaw

    • Cornell University
    • Physics, Cornell University

Authors

  • Brad Ramshaw

    • Cornell University
    • Physics, Cornell University

  • Sayak Ghosh

    • Cornell University

  • Florian Theuss

    • Cornell University

  • Arkady Shekhter

    • NHMFL
    • National High Magnetic Field Lab

  • Fabian Jerzembeck

    • Max Planck Institute for Chemical Physics of Solids, Dresden, Germany
    • Max Planck Institute for Chemical Physics of Solids
    • Max Planck Institute for the Chemical Physics of Solids

  • Naoki Kikugawa

    • National Institute for Materials Science, Tsukuba, Japan
    • National Institute for Material Science, Tsukuba Japan
    • National Institute for Materials Science
    • National Institute for Material Science, Japan

  • Dmitry Sokolov

    • Max Planck Institute for Chemical Physics of Solids, Dresden, Germany
    • Max Planck Institute for Chemical Physics of Solids
    • Max Planck Institute for the Chemical Physics of Solids

  • Manuel Brando

    • Max Planck Institute for the Chemical Physics of Solids

  • Clifford W Hicks

    • Max Planck Institute for Chemical Physics of Solids, Dresden, Germany
    • Max Planck Institute for Chemical Physics of Solids
    • Chemical Physics of Solids, Max Planck Institute
    • Max Planck Institute for the Chemical Physics of Solids

  • Andrew Mackenzie

    • Max Planck Institute for Chemical Physics of Solids, Dresden, Germany
    • Max Planck Institute for Chemical Physics of Solids
    • Max Planck Institute for the Chemical Physics of Solids

  • Johnpierre Paglione

    • University of Maryland, College Park
    • Maryland Quantum Materials Center, Department of Physics, University of Maryland
    • Quantum Materials Center, Department of Physics, University of Maryland College Park
    • Quantum Materials Center, University of Maryland, College Park
    • Maryland Quantum Materials Center and Department of Physics, University of Maryland, College Park
    • University of Maryland

  • Nicholas Butch

    • National Institute of Standards and Technology
    • NIST Center for Neutron Research, National Institute of Standards and Technology
    • Center for Neutron Research, National Institute of Standards and Technology
    • NCNR, National Institute for Standard and Technology
    • NIST/University of Maryland
    • Center of Neutron Research, National Institute of Standards and Technology, NIST
    • Center for Neutron Research, National Institute of Standards and Technology, National Institute of Standards and Technology
    • NIST Center for Neutro Research, National Institute of Standards and Technology
    • University of Maryland

  • Sheng Ran

    • National Institute of Standards and Technology
    • NIST Center for Neutron Research, National Institute of Standards and Technology, University of Maryland, College Park
    • Quantum Materials Center, Department of Physics, University of Maryland College Park
    • Physics, Washington University in St. Louis
    • Maryland Quantum Materials Center and Department of Physics, University of Maryland, College Park
    • Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Maryland, College Park
    • Washington University
    • Physics Department, Washington University in St. Louis
    • NIST Center for Neutron Research, National Institute of Standards and Technology
    • Washington University in St. Louis
    • Department of Physics, University of California, San Diego
    • University of Maryland, College Park