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Switching of magnetic domains reveals evidence for spatially inhomogeneous superconductivity

Authors :
Gerber, Simon
Bartkowiak, Marek
Gavilano, Jorge L.
Ressouche, Eric
Egetenmeyer, Nikola
Niedermayer, Christof
Bianchi, Andrea D.
Movshovich, Roman
Bauer, Eric D.
Thompson, Joe D.
Kenzelmann, Michel
Source :
Nature Physics Vol. 10, 126-129 (2014)
Publication Year :
2014

Abstract

The interplay of magnetic and charge fluctuations can lead to quantum phases with exceptional electronic properties. A case in point is magnetically-driven superconductivity, where magnetic correlations fundamentally affect the underlying symmetry and generate new physical properties. The superconducting wave-function in most known magnetic superconductors does not break translational symmetry. However, it has been predicted that modulated triplet p-wave superconductivity occurs in singlet d-wave superconductors with spin-density wave (SDW) order. Here we report evidence for the presence of a spatially inhomogeneous p-wave Cooper pair-density wave (PDW) in CeCoIn5. We show that the SDW domains can be switched completely by a tiny change of the magnetic field direction, which is naturally explained by the presence of triplet superconductivity. Further, the Q-phase emerges in a common magneto-superconducting quantum critical point. The Q-phase of CeCoIn5 thus represents an example where spatially modulated superconductivity is associated with SDW order.

Details

Database :
arXiv
Journal :
Nature Physics Vol. 10, 126-129 (2014)
Publication Type :
Report
Accession number :
edsarx.1408.2868
Document Type :
Working Paper
Full Text :
https://doi.org/10.1038/nphys2833