2004/01/13 by C. Capan, A. Bianchi, R. Movshovich +6 · 5 citations
Materials Science · Physics and Astronomy · #Anisotropy #Condensed matter physics #Critical field #Field (mathematics) #Iron-based superconductors research #Magnetic field #Order (exchange) #Physics #Physics of Superconductivity and Magnetism #Quantum mechanics #Rare-earth and actinide compounds #Superconductivity #Thermal conductivity #Thermodynamics #cond-mat.str-el
paper · pdf · doi:10.1103/physrevb.70.134513
published as Phys. Rev. B 70, 134513 (2004) · 19 pages, 6 figures, submitted to Prhys. Rev. B
arxiv created 2004/01/13 · openalex publication_date 2004/10/22 · arxiv updated 2009/12/01 · openalex created_date 2016/06/24 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/05
We have measured the thermal conductivity of the heavy-fermion superconductor CeCoIn5 in the vicinity of the upper critical field, with the magnetic field perpendicular to the c axis. Thermal conductivity displays a discontinuous jump at the superconducting phase boundary below critical temperature T0\ensuremath≈1\phantom\rule0.3em0exK, indicating a change from a second- to first-order transition and confirming the recent results of specific heat measurements on CeCoIn5. In addition, the thermal conductivity data as a function of field display a kink at a field Hk below the superconducting critical field, which closely coincides with the recently discovered anomaly in specific heat, tentatively identified with the appearance of the spatially inhomogeneous Fulde-Ferrell-Larkin-Ovchinnikov (FFLO) superconducting state. Our results indicate that the thermal conductivity is enhanced within the FFLO state, and call for further theoretical investigations of the order parameter's real-space structure (and, in particular, the structure of vortices) and of the thermal transport within the inhomogeneous FFLO state.