Momentum Resolved Superconducting Energy Gaps of Sr$_2$RuO$_4$ from Quasiparticle Interference Imaging

TL;DR

This study uses Bogoliubov quasiparticle interference imaging to directly measure the momentum-space structure of superconducting gaps in Sr$_2$RuO$_4$, revealing a $d_{x^2-y^2}$ symmetry consistent with recent experimental and theoretical findings.

Contribution

First direct high-precision measurement of multiband superconducting gaps in Sr$_2$RuO$_4$ using BQPI, clarifying its gap symmetry as $d_{x^2-y^2}$.

Findings

Identified eight gap nodes/minima aligned with crystal directions.

Observed gap structure consistent with $d_{x^2-y^2}$ symmetry.

Supported by complementary thermal conductivity and Knight shift data.

Abstract

Sr$_2$RuO$_4$ has long been the focus of intense research interest because of conjectures that it is a correlated topological superconductor. It is the momentum space (k-space) structure of the superconducting energy gap $\Delta_i(\mathbf{k})$ on each band $i$ that encodes its unknown superconducting order-parameter. But, because the energy scales are so low, it has never been possible to directly measure the $\Delta_i(\mathbf{k})$ of Sr$_2$RuO$_4$. Here we implement Bogoliubov quasiparticle interference (BQPI) imaging, a technique capable of high-precision measurement of multiband $\Delta_i(\mathbf{k})$. At T=90 mK we visualize a set of Bogoliubov scattering interference wavevectors $q_j:j=1-5$ consistent with eight gap nodes/minima, that are all closely aligned to the $(\pm1,\pm1)$ crystal-lattice directions on both the $\alpha$-and $\beta$-bands. Taking these observations in combination with other very recent advances in directional thermal conductivity (E. Hassinger et al. Phys. Rev. X 7, 011032 (2017)), temperature dependent Knight shift (A. Pustogow et al. Nature 574, 72 (2019)), time-reversal symmetry conservation (S. Kashiwaya et al. arXiv:1907.030939) and theory (A.T. Romer et al. Phys. Rev. Lett. 123, 247001 (2019); H. S. Roising et al. Phys. Rev. Research 1, 033108 (2019),O. Gingras et al. Phys. Rev. Lett. 123, 217005 (2019)), the BQPI signature of Sr$_2$RuO$_4$ appears most consistent with $\Delta_i(\mathbf{k})$ having $d_{x^2-y^2}$ $(B_{1g})$ symmetry.