Heavy-fermion superconductivity in UPt sub 3

Thesis/Dissertation · Fri Jan 01 00:00:00 EST 1988

OSTI ID:5044820

Putikka, W O

A phenomenological spin fluctuation model for superconductivity in the heavy-fermion metal UPt{sub 3} is presented. The wavevector dependence of the interaction is assumed to be the same as the wavevector dependent magnetic susceptibility extracted from the neutron scattering experiments. The other input for the calculation is the Fermi surface of UPt{sub 3}. UPt{sub 3} can thus be described at low temperatures in its normal state as a Fermi liquid, with very massive quasiparticles. The model considered here for the superconducting state is the pairing of the heavy quasiparticles by means of the spin fluctuation mediated interaction. A phase diagram is derived in terms of two dimensionless parameters giving the relative strength of the local repulsive part of the interaction and in the plane ferromagnetic interaction compared to the nearest neighbor antiferromagnetic interaction. s-, p- and d-wave phases are possible. The symmetry of the gap function favored by this model is the E{sub 1g} representation of D{sub 6h}. To determine the symmetry of the gap function for this two dimensional representation the fourth order terms in the Ginzburg-Landau free energy are considered. The resulting gap function has a line of nodes in the basal plane and point nodes along the c-axis. A qualitative comparison of calculated properties for UPt{sub 3} with this d-wave gap function to measured properties is given. A discussion of the limitations of the model and future improvements and extensions of the model is also given.

• Research Organization: Wisconsin Univ., Madison, WI (USA)
• OSTI ID: 5044820
• Resource Relation: Other Information: Thesis (Ph. D.)
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE
75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS
SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND SUPERFLUIDITY
PLUTONIUM ALLOYS
SUPERCONDUCTIVITY
MATHEMATICAL MODELS
URANIUM ALLOYS
COMPARATIVE EVALUATIONS
FERMI LEVEL
FERMIONS
FREE ENERGY
INTERMETALLIC COMPOUNDS
MAGNETIC SUSCEPTIBILITY
PHASE DIAGRAMS
QUASI PARTICLES
ACTINIDE ALLOYS
ALLOYS
DIAGRAMS
ELECTRIC CONDUCTIVITY
ELECTRICAL PROPERTIES
ENERGY
ENERGY LEVELS
MAGNETIC PROPERTIES
PHYSICAL PROPERTIES
THERMODYNAMIC PROPERTIES
360104* - Metals & Alloys- Physical Properties
656100 - Condensed Matter Physics- Superconductivity