The dominant role of critical valence fluctuations on high Tc superconductivity in heavy fermions.

Despite almost 40 years of research, the origin of heavy-fermion superconductivity is still strongly debated. Especially, the pressure-induced enhancement of superconductivity in CeCu₂Si₂ away from the magnetic breakdown is not sufficiently taken into consideration. As recently reported in CeCu₂Si₂ and several related compounds, optimal superconductivity occurs at the pressure of a valence crossover, which arises from a virtual critical end point at negative temperature T_cr. In this context, we did a meticulous analysis of a vast set of top-quality high-pressure electrical resistivity data of several Ce-based heavy fermion compounds. The key novelty is the salient correlation between the superconducting transition temperature T_c and the valence instability parameter T_cr, which is in line with theory of enhanced valence fluctuations. Moreover, it is found that, in the pressure region of superconductivity, electrical resistivity is governed by the valence crossover, which most often manifests in scaling behavior. We develop the new idea that the optimum superconducting T_c of a given sample is mainly controlled by the compound's T_cr and limited by non-magnetic disorder. In this regard, the present study provides compelling evidence for the crucial role of critical valence fluctuations in the formation of Cooper pairs in Ce-based heavy fermion superconductors besides the contribution of spin fluctuations near magnetic quantum critical points, and corroborates a plausible superconducting mechanism in strongly correlated electron systems in general. Superconductivity: driven by valence fluctuations An analysis of electrical resistivity of several Ce-based heavy fermion compounds unveils the crucial role of critical valence fluctuations to enhance superconductivity. An international team led by Didier Jaccard from University of Geneva performed a comprehensive analysis of 17 data sets of high-pressure electrical resistivity from 9 different Ce-based heavy fermion compounds. They reveal a universal character of the relationship between the superconducting transition temperature (T_c) and the strength of the valence instability. Taking into account the superconducting pair-breaking effect of non-magnetic disorder, they identify two main parameters, a virtual valence transition temperature and the residual resistivity, which control T_c of a representative part of Ce-based heavy fermion superconductors. This study provides compelling evidence for the crucial role of critical valence fluctuations besides spin fluctuations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]