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Title: Polar Kerr Effect from Time-Reversal Symmetry Breaking in the Heavy-Fermion Superconductor PrOs 4 Sb 12

Abstract

Here, we present polar Kerr effect measurements of the filled skutterudite superconductor PrOs4Sb12. Simultaneous ac susceptibility measurements allow us to observe the superconducting transition under the influence of heating from the optical beam. A nonzero Kerr angle θK develops below the superconducting transition, saturating at ~300 nrad at low temperatures. This result is repeated across several measurements of multiple samples. By extrapolating the measured θK(T) to zero optical power, we are able to show that the Kerr angle onset temperature in one set of measurements is consistent with the transition to the B phase at TC2. We discuss the possible explanations for this result and its impact on the understanding of multiphase and inhomogeneous superconductivity in PrOs4Sb12.

Authors:
 [1];  [2];  [3];  [4];  [5]
  1. Stanford Univ., Stanford, CA (United States); Univ. of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA (United States)
  2. Stanford Univ., Stanford, CA (United States)
  3. Tokyo Metropolitan Univ., Tokyo (Japan)
  4. Univ. of California San Diego, La Jolla, CA (United States)
  5. Stanford Univ., Stanford, CA (United States); SLAC National Accelerator Lab., Menlo Park, CA (United States)
Publication Date:
Research Org.:
SLAC National Accelerator Lab., Menlo Park, CA (United States)
Sponsoring Org.:
USDOE Office of Science (SC)
OSTI Identifier:
1433168
Alternate Identifier(s):
OSTI ID: 1436004
Grant/Contract Number:  
AC02-76SF00515; FG02-04ER46105
Resource Type:
Journal Article: Accepted Manuscript
Journal Name:
Physical Review Letters
Additional Journal Information:
Journal Volume: 120; Journal Issue: 18; Journal ID: ISSN 0031-9007
Publisher:
American Physical Society (APS)
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Subject:
75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND SUPERFLUIDITY

Citation Formats

Levenson-Falk, Eli M., Schemm, E. R., Aoki, Y., Maple, M. B., and Kapitulnik, Aharon. Polar Kerr Effect from Time-Reversal Symmetry Breaking in the Heavy-Fermion Superconductor PrOs4Sb12. United States: N. p., 2018. Web. doi:10.1103/PhysRevLett.120.187004.
Levenson-Falk, Eli M., Schemm, E. R., Aoki, Y., Maple, M. B., & Kapitulnik, Aharon. Polar Kerr Effect from Time-Reversal Symmetry Breaking in the Heavy-Fermion Superconductor PrOs4Sb12. United States. https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.120.187004
Levenson-Falk, Eli M., Schemm, E. R., Aoki, Y., Maple, M. B., and Kapitulnik, Aharon. 2018. "Polar Kerr Effect from Time-Reversal Symmetry Breaking in the Heavy-Fermion Superconductor PrOs4Sb12". United States. https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.120.187004. https://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/1433168.
@article{osti_1433168,
title = {Polar Kerr Effect from Time-Reversal Symmetry Breaking in the Heavy-Fermion Superconductor PrOs4Sb12},
author = {Levenson-Falk, Eli M. and Schemm, E. R. and Aoki, Y. and Maple, M. B. and Kapitulnik, Aharon},
abstractNote = {Here, we present polar Kerr effect measurements of the filled skutterudite superconductor PrOs4Sb12. Simultaneous ac susceptibility measurements allow us to observe the superconducting transition under the influence of heating from the optical beam. A nonzero Kerr angle θK develops below the superconducting transition, saturating at ~300 nrad at low temperatures. This result is repeated across several measurements of multiple samples. By extrapolating the measured θK(T) to zero optical power, we are able to show that the Kerr angle onset temperature in one set of measurements is consistent with the transition to the B phase at TC2. We discuss the possible explanations for this result and its impact on the understanding of multiphase and inhomogeneous superconductivity in PrOs4Sb12.},
doi = {10.1103/PhysRevLett.120.187004},
url = {https://www.osti.gov/biblio/1433168}, journal = {Physical Review Letters},
issn = {0031-9007},
number = 18,
volume = 120,
place = {United States},
year = {Fri May 04 00:00:00 EDT 2018},
month = {Fri May 04 00:00:00 EDT 2018}
}

Journal Article:

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Cited by: 15 works
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Works referenced in this record:

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Works referencing / citing this record:

Broken time-reversal symmetry in superconducting Pr 1 x La x Pt 4 Ge 12
journal, July 2019


Time Reversal Symmetry Breaking Superconductors: Sr2RuO4 and Beyond
journal, May 2019


Bogoliubov Fermi surfaces: General theory, magnetic order, and topology
text, January 2018