2021/05/24 by Tian Shang, T. Shang, T. Shiroka · 18 citations
Chemistry · Physics and Astronomy · #Advanced Condensed Matter Physics #Chemistry #Condensed matter physics #Crystal structure #Crystallography #Isostructural #Muon spin spectroscopy #Particle physics #Physics #Rare-earth and actinide compounds #Rhenium #Superconductivity #Symmetry breaking #Topological Materials and Phenomena #cond-mat.mtrl-sci #cond-mat.str-el #cond-mat.supr-con
paper · pdf · doi:10.3389/fphy.2021.651163
published in Frontiers in Physics 9 (Frontiers Media) · 12 pages, 4 figures
openalex publication_date 2021/05/24 · arxiv created 2021/05/25 · arxiv updated 2021/05/26 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/06
In the recent search for unconventional- and topological superconductivity, noncentrosymmetric superconductors (NCSCs) rank among the most promising candidate materials. Surprisingly, some of them—especially those containing rhenium—seem to exhibit also time-reversal symmetry (TRS) breaking in their superconducting state, while TRS is preserved in many other isostructural NCSCs. To date, a satisfactory explanation for such discrepant behavior, albeit crucial for understanding the unconventional superconductivity of these materials, is still missing. Here we review the most recent developments regarding the Re-based class, where the muon-spin relaxation (μSR) technique plays a key role due to its high sensitivity to the weak internal fields associated with the TRS breaking phenomenon. We discuss different cases of Re-containing superconductors, comprising both centrosymmetric- and noncentrosymmetric crystal structures, ranging from pure rhenium, to Re T ( T = 3 d -5 d early transition metals), to the dilute-Re case of ReBe 22 . μSR results suggest that the rhenium presence and its amount are two key factors for the appearance and the extent of TRS breaking in Re-based superconductors. Besides summarizing the existing findings, we also put forward future research ideas regarding the exciting field of materials showing TRS breaking.