Full-gap superconductivity in non-centrosymmetric Re$_6$Zr, Re$_{27}$Zr$_{5}$ and Re$_{24}$Zr$_{5}$

TL;DR

This study uses nuclear quadrupole resonance to show that Re$_6$Zr, Re$_{27}$Zr$_{5}$, and Re$_{24}$Zr$_{5}$ are conventional s-wave superconductors with fully-opened gaps, despite previous interest in unconventional states.

Contribution

It provides experimental evidence of conventional s-wave superconductivity in Re-Zr compounds through NQR measurements, clarifying their pairing symmetry.

Findings

All three compounds show a coherence peak in $1/T_1$ below $T_c$.

Superconducting gaps are close to weak-coupling BCS values.

Data indicates fully-opened, conventional s-wave gaps.

Abstract

Non-centrosymmetric superconductor Re$_6$Zr has attracted much interest, for its possible unconventional superconducting state with time reversal symmetry broken. Here we report the $^{185/187}$Re nuclear quadrupole resonance (NQR) measurements on Re$_6$Zr ($T_c$ = 6.72 K) and the isostructural compounds Re$_{27}$Zr$_{5}$ ($T_c$ = 6.53 K) and Re$_{24}$Zr$_{5}$ ($T_c$ = 5.00 K). The nuclear spin-lattice relaxation rate $1/T_1$ shows a coherence peak below $T_c$ and decreases exponentially at low temperatures in all three samples. The superconducting gap $\Delta$ derived from the $1/T_1$ data is $2\Delta =3.58 $ $k_BT_c$, 3.55 $k_BT_c$, and 3.51 $k_BT_c$ for Re$_6$Zr ,Re$_{27}$Zr$_{5}$, and Re$_{24}$Zr$_{5}$, respectively, which is close to the value of 3.53 $k_BT_c$ expected for weak-coupling superconductivity. These data suggest conventional $s$-wave superconductivity with a fully-opened gap in this series of compounds.