Time-reversal-symmetry breaking and unconventional pairing in the noncentrosymmetric superconductor La$_{7}$Rh$_{3}$

TL;DR

This study investigates La7Rh3, a noncentrosymmetric superconductor, revealing a fully gapped state with spontaneous time-reversal-symmetry breaking, and suggests electron-electron interactions and spin fluctuations as key to its pairing mechanism.

Contribution

It provides experimental evidence of time-reversal-symmetry breaking and fully gapped superconductivity in La7Rh3, offering new insights into its pairing mechanism and symmetry properties.

Findings

Superconducting gap is fully established.

Time-reversal-symmetry is spontaneously broken.

Electron-electron interactions are relevant for pairing.

Abstract

Noncentrosymmetric superconductors have sparked significant research interests due to their exciting properties, such as the admixture of spin-singlet and spin-triplet Cooper pairs. Here we report $\mu$SR and thermodynamic measurements on the noncentrosymmetric superconductor La7Rh3 which indicate a fully established superconducting gap and spontaneous time-reversal-symmetry breaking at the onset of superconductivity. We show that our results pose severe constraints on any microscopic theory of superconductivity in the system. A symmetry analysis identifies ground states compatible with time-reversal-symmetry breaking and the resulting gap functions are discussed. Furthermore, general energetic considerations indicate the relevance of electron-electron interactions for the pairing mechanism, in accordance with hints of spin-fluctuations revealed in susceptibility measurements.