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Chen Y, Jiang WB, Guo CY, Ronning F, Bauer ED, Park T, Yuan HQ, Fisk Z, Thompson JD, Lu X. Reemergent superconductivity and avoided quantum criticality in Cd-doped CeIrIn(5) under pressure. PHYSICAL REVIEW LETTERS 2015; 114:146403. [PMID: 25910144 DOI: 10.1103/physrevlett.114.146403] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/23/2014] [Indexed: 06/04/2023]
Abstract
We investigated the electrical resistivity and heat capacity of 1% Cd-doped CeIrIn_{5} under hydrostatic pressure up to 2.7 GPa, near where long-range antiferromagnetic order is suppressed and bulk superconductivity suddenly reemerges. The pressure-induced T_{c} is close to that of pristine CeIrIn_{5} at 2.7 GPa, and no signatures of a quantum critical point under pressure support a local origin of the antiferromagnetic moments in Cd-CeIrIn_{5} at ambient pressure. Similarities between superconductors CeIrIn_{5} and CeCoIn_{5} in response to Cd substitutions suggest a common magnetic mechanism.
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Affiliation(s)
- Y Chen
- Center for Correlated Matter and Department of Physics, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310058, China
| | - W B Jiang
- Center for Correlated Matter and Department of Physics, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310058, China
| | - C Y Guo
- Center for Correlated Matter and Department of Physics, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310058, China
| | - F Ronning
- Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos, New Mexico 87545, USA
| | - E D Bauer
- Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos, New Mexico 87545, USA
| | - Tuson Park
- Department of Physics, Sungkyunkwan University, Suwon 440-746, South Korea
| | - H Q Yuan
- Center for Correlated Matter and Department of Physics, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310058, China
- Collaborative Innovation Center of Advanced Microstructures, Nanjing University, Nanjing, 210093, China
| | - Z Fisk
- Department of Physics, University of California, Irvine, California 92697, USA
| | - J D Thompson
- Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos, New Mexico 87545, USA
| | - Xin Lu
- Center for Correlated Matter and Department of Physics, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310058, China
- Collaborative Innovation Center of Advanced Microstructures, Nanjing University, Nanjing, 210093, China
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Abstract
The d and f electrons in correlated metals are often neither fully localized around their host nuclei nor fully itinerant. This localized/itinerant duality underlies the correlated electronic states of the high-Tc cuprate superconductors and the heavy-fermion intermetallics and is nowhere more apparent than in the 5f valence electrons of plutonium. Here, we report the full set of symmetry-resolved elastic moduli of PuCoGa5--the highest Tc superconductor of the heavy fermions (Tc = 18.5 K)--and find that the bulk modulus softens anomalously over a wide range in temperature above Tc. The elastic symmetry channel in which this softening occurs is characteristic of a valence instability--therefore, we identify the elastic softening with fluctuations of the plutonium 5f mixed-valence state. These valence fluctuations disappear when the superconducting gap opens at Tc, suggesting that electrons near the Fermi surface play an essential role in the mixed-valence physics of this system and that PuCoGa5 avoids a valence transition by entering the superconducting state. The lack of magnetism in PuCoGa5 has made it difficult to reconcile with most other heavy-fermion superconductors, where superconductivity is generally believed to be mediated by magnetic fluctuations. Our observations suggest that valence fluctuations play a critical role in the unusually high Tc of PuCoGa5.
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