Low-Temperature Specific Heat of the Heavy-Fermion Superconductor Pr﻿Os4Sb12

R. Vollmer; A. Faißt; C. Pfleiderer; H. v. Löhneysen; E. D. Bauer; P.-C. Ho; V. Zapf; M. B. Maple

doi:10.1103/PhysRevLett.90.057001

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Low-Temperature Specific Heat of the Heavy-Fermion Superconductor PrOs4Sb12

R. Vollmer, A. Faißt, C. Pfleiderer, H. v. Löhneysen, E. D. Bauer, P.-C. Ho, V. Zapf, M. B. Maple

DOI 10.1103/PhysRevLett.90.057001 · Physical Review Letters

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Abstract

We report the magnetic field dependence of the specific-heat C of single crystals of the first Pr-based heavy-fermion superconductor PrOs4Sb12. The variation of C at low temperature and the magnetic phase diagram inferred from C, the resistivity and magnetization provide compelling evidence of a doublet ground state. Two distinct superconducting anomalies in C indicate an unconventional superconducting state, where the splitting may arise from a weak lifting of the ground state degeneracy. In combination this identifies PrOs4Sb12 as a strong contender for quadrupolar pairing, i.e., superconductivity that is neither electron-phonon nor magnetically mediated.

Source-reported materials — not catalogue approval

Formula	Reported Tc (K)	Pressure (GPa)	Type
PrOs4Sb12 Archive — visibility unverified Source-occurrence policy only; no material identity or catalogue acceptance is inferred from the formula.	1.85	Pressure not reported	onset
PrOs4Sb12 Archive — visibility unverified Source-occurrence policy only; no material identity or catalogue acceptance is inferred from the formula.	1.85	Pressure not reported	onset
PrOs4Sb12 Archive — visibility unverified Source-occurrence policy only; no material identity or catalogue acceptance is inferred from the formula.	1.85	Pressure not reported	onset