Non-Centrosymmetric Superconductivity |
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The crystal structure on the left is that of CePt3Si, which is a non-conventional heavy fermion superconductor (Tc~1K). This material is unusual in that its crystal structure lacks inversion symmetry. This broken symmetry along with the fact that CePt3Si has a strong spin-orbit coupling is believed to be responsible for its nodal gap stucture. We made some of the first low tempertature susceptibility measurements on poly-crystalline samples produced by Prof. David Young. As described below the field dependence of the susceptibility in anomalous. The Be/Au bilayer systems that we have recently been studying also lack inverstion symmetry. Indeed, we feel that the bilayer geometry may afford a more straightfoward way to disentangle the roles spin-orbit coupling and inversion symmetry in the formation of the condensate. |
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On the left is shown the square-root field dependence of the susceptibility of two CePt3Si samples at 70 mK. The line is provided as a guide to Inset: the circles represent the 10 K susceptibility of the noncentrosymmetric A15 superconductor V3Si. The diamonds Read more: |