Detection of Time-Reversal Symmetry Breaking in the Noncentrosymmetric Superconductor Re6Zr Using Muon-Spin Spectroscopy

作者：Singh R P^*; Hillier A D; Mazidian B; Quintanilla J; Annett J F; Paul D McK; Balakrishnan G; Lees M R

来源：Physical Review Letters, 2014, 112(10): 107002.

DOI：10.1103/PhysRevLett.112.107002

We have investigated the superconducting state of the noncentrosymmetric compound Re6Zr using magnetization, heat capacity, and muon-spin relaxation or rotation (mu SR) measurements. Re6Zr has a superconducting transition temperature, T-c 6.75 +/- 0.05 K. Transverse-field mu SR experiments, used to probe the superfluid density, suggest an s-wave character for the superconducting gap. However, zero and longitudinal-field mu SR data reveal the presence of spontaneous static magnetic fields below T-c indicating that time-reversal symmetry is broken in the superconducting state and an unconventional pairing mechanism. An analysis of the pairing symmetries identifies the ground states compatible with time-reversal symmetry breaking.

• 出版日期2014-3-13