Anisotropy of thermal conductivity and possible signature of the Fulde-Ferrell-Larkin-Ovchinnikov state in CeCoIn5

C. Capan, A. Bianchi, R. Movshovich, A. D. Christianson, A. Malinowski, M. F. Hundley, A. Lacerda, P. G. Pagliuso, J. L. Sarrao

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94 Scopus citations

Abstract

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 Tc ≈ 1 K, 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-Oychinnikov (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.

Original languageEnglish
Article number134513
Pages (from-to)134513-1-134513-7
JournalPhysical Review B - Condensed Matter and Materials Physics
Volume70
Issue number13
DOIs
StatePublished - Oct 2004
Externally publishedYes

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