Novel superconductivity on the magnetic criticality in heavy-fermion systems : a systematic study of NQR under pressure

TL;DR

This study uncovers exotic superconductivity and novel magnetism in heavy-fermion compounds CeCu$_2$Si$_2$, CeRhIn$_5$, and CeIn$_3$ under pressure, revealing microscopic coexistence of superconductivity and antiferromagnetism through NQR measurements.

Contribution

It provides a systematic NQR analysis of pressure-induced superconductivity and magnetism, demonstrating microscopic coexistence and the role of magnetic fluctuations in heavy-fermion systems.

Findings

Superconductivity coexists with antiferromagnetism in CeCu$_2$Si$_2$ and CeRhIn$_5$.

Microscopic coexistence of SC and AFM confirmed by NQR measurements.

Magnetic fluctuations may mediate pairing in CeIn$_3$.

Abstract

We report the discovery of exotic superconductivity (SC) and novel magnetism in heavy-fermion (HF) compounds, CeCu$_2$Si$_2$, CeRhIn$_5$ and CeIn$_3$ through nuclear-quadrupole-resonance (NQR) measurements under pressure ($P$). The exotic SC in a homogeneous CeCu$_2$Si$_2$ revealed antiferromagnetic critical fluctuations at the border to antiferromagnetism (AFM) or marginal AFM. The uniform mixed phase of SC and AFM in CeCu$_2$(Si$_{1-x}$Ge$_x$)$_2$ emerges on a microscopic level, once a tiny amount of 1%Ge($x=0.01$) is substituted for Si to expand its lattice. The application of minute pressure ($P\sim 0.19$ GPa) suppresses the sudden emergence of the AFM caused by doping Ge. The persistence of the low-lying magnetic excitations at temperatures lower than $T_c$ and $T_N$ is ascribed due to the uniform mixed phase of SC and AFM. Likewise, the $P$-induced HF superconductor CeRhIn$_5$ coexists with AFM on a microscopic level in $P = 1.5$ - 1.9 GPa. The unconventional gapless nature of SC in the low-lying excitation spectrum emerges due to the uniform mixed phase of AFM and SC. By contrast, in CeIn$_3$, we propose that the magnetic excitations such as spin-density fluctuations induced by the first-order phase transition from the AFM to the paramagnetism (PM) might mediate attractive interaction to form the Cooper pairs in the novel phase of AFM.