Multiband Superconductivity with Unexpected Deficiency of Nodal Quasiparticles in CeCu2Si2
Abstract
Superconductivity in the heavy-fermion compound CeCu2Si2 is a prototypical example of Cooper pairs formed by strongly correlated electrons. For more than 30 years, it has been believed to arise from nodal d-wave pairing mediated by a magnetic glue. Here, we report a detailed study of the specific heat and magnetization at low temperatures for a high-quality single crystal. Unexpectedly, the specific-heat measurements exhibit exponential decay with a two-gap feature in its temperature dependence, along with a linear dependence as a function of magnetic field and the absence of oscillations in the field angle, reminiscent of multiband full-gap superconductivity. In addition, we find anomalous behavior at high fields, attributed to a strong Pauli paramagnetic effect. A low quasiparticle density of states at low energies with a multiband Fermi-surface topology would open a new door into electron pairing in CeCu2Si2.
- Publication:
-
Physical Review Letters
- Pub Date:
- February 2014
- DOI:
- arXiv:
- arXiv:1307.3499
- Bibcode:
- 2014PhRvL.112f7002K
- Keywords:
-
- 74.70.Tx;
- 74.25.Bt;
- 74.25.Op;
- Heavy-fermion superconductors;
- Thermodynamic properties;
- Mixed states critical fields and surface sheaths;
- Condensed Matter - Superconductivity;
- Condensed Matter - Strongly Correlated Electrons
- E-Print:
- 5 pages, 4 figures (main text) + 5 pages, 6 figures (supplemental material), published in Phys. Rev. Lett