Anisotropic superconductivity in PrOs4Sb12

TL;DR

This paper analyzes the thermodynamic properties of the anisotropic, spin-triplet superconducting phases in PrOs4Sb12 using weak-coupling BCS theory, comparing theoretical superfluid density with experimental data.

Contribution

It provides a theoretical analysis of the two superconducting phases in PrOs4Sb12, highlighting their anisotropic properties and comparing with experimental results.

Findings

Superfluid density of the B phase matches experimental data.

Superconductivity involves at least two distinct phases.

The phases exhibit anisotropic properties similar to superfluid helium-3.

Abstract

Recently the superconducting gap functions of the skutterudite PrOs$_4$Sb$_{12}$ have been proposed [K. Maki et al, Europhys. Lett. {\bf 68}, 720 (2004)]. The superconductivity is spin-triplet and consists of at least 2 distinct phases in a magnetic field, which bears some resemblance to superfluid $ ^{3}$He. Here we present our analysis of the thermodynamic properties of these two superconducting states within the weak-coupling BCS theory. The superfluid density of the B phase is compared with recent experimental data.