Na content dependence of superconductivity and the spin correlations in Na_{x}CoO_{2}\cdot 1.3H_{2}O

TL;DR

This study investigates how sodium content affects superconductivity and spin correlations in Na_{x}CoO_{2}ullet 1.3H_{2}O using ^{59}Co NQR, revealing changes in the superconducting gap structure and spin dynamics across different x values.

Contribution

It provides the first systematic NQR analysis of Na_{x}CoO_{2}ullet 1.3H_{2}O over a wide sodium content range, highlighting the evolution of superconducting gap symmetry and spin correlations.

Findings

T_c increases as x decreases, then plateaus at x ≤ 0.28.

Line nodes in the superconducting gap are confirmed at x ≈ 0.26.

Spin correlations strengthen with decreasing x, affecting the density of states.

Abstract

We report systematic measurements using the ^{59}Co nuclear quadrupole resonance(NQR) technique on the cobalt oxide superconductors Na_{x}CoO_{2}\cdot 1.3H_{2}O over a wide Na content range x=0.25\sim 0.34. We find that T_c increases with decreasing x but reaches to a plateau for x \leq0.28. In the sample with x \sim 0.26, the spin-lattice relaxation rate 1/T_1 shows a T^3 variation below T_c and down to T\sim T_c/6, which unambiguously indicates the presence of line nodes in the superconducting (SC) gap function. However, for larger or smaller x, 1/T_1 deviates from the T^3 variation below T\sim 2 K even though the T_c (\sim 4.7 K) is similar, which suggests an unusual evolution of the SC state. In the normal state, the spin correlations at a finite wave vector become stronger upon decreasing x, and the density of states at the Fermi level increases with decreasing x, which can be understood in terms of a single-orbital picture suggested on the basis of LDA calculation.