Probing chiral superconductivity in Sr 2 RuO 4 underneath the surface by point contact measurements
Abstract
Sr2RuO4 (SRO) is the prime candidate for a chiral p-wave superconductor with critical temperature $${T}_{{\rm{c}}}(\mathrm{SRO})\sim 1.5$$ K. Chiral domains with opposite chiralities $${p}_{x}\pm {{\rm{i}}{p}}_{y}$$ have been proposed, but are yet to be confirmed. We measure the field dependence of the point contact (PC) resistance between a tungsten tip and an SRO–Ru eutectic crystal, where micrometer-sized Ru inclusions are embedded in SRO with an atomically sharp interface. Ruthenium is an s-wave superconductor with $${T}_{{\rm{c}}}(\mathrm{Ru})\sim 0.5$$ K; flux pinned near the Ru inclusions can suppress its superconductivity, as reflected in the PC resistance and spectra. This flux pinning effect originates from SRO underneath the surface and is very strong once flux is introduced. To fully remove flux pinning, one needs to thermally cycle the sample above Tc(SRO) or apply alternating fields with decreasing amplitude. With alternating fields, the observed hysteresis in magnetoresistance can be explained by domain dynamics, providing support for the existence of chiral domains. The origin of the strong pinning could be the chiral domains themselves.
- Authors:
- Publication Date:
- Research Org.:
- Tulane Univ., New Orleans, LA (United States)
- Sponsoring Org.:
- USDOE
- OSTI Identifier:
- 1437703
- Alternate Identifier(s):
- OSTI ID: 1393550
- Grant/Contract Number:
- FG02-04ER46159; SC0012432
- Resource Type:
- Published Article
- Journal Name:
- New Journal of Physics
- Additional Journal Information:
- Journal Name: New Journal of Physics Journal Volume: 19 Journal Issue: 5; Journal ID: ISSN 1367-2630
- Publisher:
- IOP Publishing
- Country of Publication:
- United Kingdom
- Language:
- English
- Subject:
- 75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND SUPERFLUIDITY
Citation Formats
Wang, He, Luo, Jiawei, Lou, Weijian, Ortmann, J. E., Mao, Z. Q., Liu, Y., and Wei, Jian. Probing chiral superconductivity in Sr 2 RuO 4 underneath the surface by point contact measurements. United Kingdom: N. p., 2017.
Web. doi:10.1088/1367-2630/aa65c5.
Wang, He, Luo, Jiawei, Lou, Weijian, Ortmann, J. E., Mao, Z. Q., Liu, Y., & Wei, Jian. Probing chiral superconductivity in Sr 2 RuO 4 underneath the surface by point contact measurements. United Kingdom. https://doi.org/10.1088/1367-2630/aa65c5
Wang, He, Luo, Jiawei, Lou, Weijian, Ortmann, J. E., Mao, Z. Q., Liu, Y., and Wei, Jian. Mon .
"Probing chiral superconductivity in Sr 2 RuO 4 underneath the surface by point contact measurements". United Kingdom. https://doi.org/10.1088/1367-2630/aa65c5.
@article{osti_1437703,
title = {Probing chiral superconductivity in Sr 2 RuO 4 underneath the surface by point contact measurements},
author = {Wang, He and Luo, Jiawei and Lou, Weijian and Ortmann, J. E. and Mao, Z. Q. and Liu, Y. and Wei, Jian},
abstractNote = {Sr2RuO4 (SRO) is the prime candidate for a chiral p-wave superconductor with critical temperature ${T}_{{\rm{c}}}(\mathrm{SRO})\sim 1.5$ K. Chiral domains with opposite chiralities ${p}_{x}\pm {{\rm{i}}{p}}_{y}$ have been proposed, but are yet to be confirmed. We measure the field dependence of the point contact (PC) resistance between a tungsten tip and an SRO–Ru eutectic crystal, where micrometer-sized Ru inclusions are embedded in SRO with an atomically sharp interface. Ruthenium is an s-wave superconductor with ${T}_{{\rm{c}}}(\mathrm{Ru})\sim 0.5$ K; flux pinned near the Ru inclusions can suppress its superconductivity, as reflected in the PC resistance and spectra. This flux pinning effect originates from SRO underneath the surface and is very strong once flux is introduced. To fully remove flux pinning, one needs to thermally cycle the sample above Tc(SRO) or apply alternating fields with decreasing amplitude. With alternating fields, the observed hysteresis in magnetoresistance can be explained by domain dynamics, providing support for the existence of chiral domains. The origin of the strong pinning could be the chiral domains themselves.},
doi = {10.1088/1367-2630/aa65c5},
journal = {New Journal of Physics},
number = 5,
volume = 19,
place = {United Kingdom},
year = {Mon May 01 00:00:00 EDT 2017},
month = {Mon May 01 00:00:00 EDT 2017}
}
https://doi.org/10.1088/1367-2630/aa65c5
Web of Science
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