Absence of nodes in the energy gap of the high-temperature electron-doped Pr1.85Ce0.15CuO4-y superconductor using thermal conductivity and specific heat measurements

TL;DR

This study provides bulk evidence that the optimally electron-doped Pr1.85Ce0.15CuO4-y superconductor has a nodeless energy gap, as shown by thermal conductivity and specific heat measurements consistent with s-wave symmetry.

Contribution

The paper demonstrates, through thermal and specific heat measurements, that the energy gap in this superconductor is nodeless, challenging previous assumptions of d-wave symmetry in cuprates.

Findings

Thermal conductivity and specific heat data support nodeless gap symmetry.

Magnetic field dependence aligns with s-wave superconductor theory.

Evidence suggests a fully gapped superconducting state in electron-doped cuprates.

Abstract

We present data analyses of the thermal conductivity and specific heat of electron-doped Pr1.85Ce0.15CuO4-y. The zero-field thermal conductivity and specific heat of this optimally electrondoped system can be only explained by a nodeless gap symmetry. The magnetic-field dependence of the electronic specific heat in the vortex state is in quantitative agreement with an s-wave theory. Our quantitative data analyses provide bulk evidence for a nodeless gap symmetry in optimally electron-doped cuprates.