Unconventional full-gap superconductivity in Kondo lattice with semimetallic conduction bands

Abstract

A mechanism of superconductivity is proposed for the Kondo lattice which has semimetallic conduction bands with electron and hole Fermi surfaces. At high temperatures, the f electron's localized spins/pseudospins are fluctuating between electron and hole Fermi surfaces to seek for a partner to couple with. This system tries to resolve this frustration at low temperatures and chooses to construct a quantum mechanically entangled state composed of the Kondo singlet with electron surface and that with hole surface, to break the U(1) gauge symmetry. The corresponding order parameter is given by a composite pairing amplitude as a three-body bound state of localized spin/pseudospin, electron and hole. The electromagnetic response is considered, where the composite pair itself does not contribute to the Meissner effect, but the induced pair between conduction electrons, which inevitably mixes due to, e.g., a band cutoff effect at high energies, carries the superconducting current under the external field. Possible applications to real heavy-electron materials are also discussed.

Source-reported materials — not catalogue approval

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