The Unconventional Superconductivity of Skutterudite PrOs<SUB>4</SUB>Sb<SUB>12</SUB>: Time-Reversal Symmetry Breaking and Adjacent Field-Induced Quadrupole Ordering

• Aoki Yuji

  Department of Physics, Tokyo Metropolitan University

• Tayama Takashi

  Institute for Solid State Physics, University of Tokyo

• Sakakibara Toshiro

  Institute for Solid State Physics, University of Tokyo

• Kuwahara Keitaro

  Department of Physics, Tokyo Metropolitan University

• Iwasa Kazuaki

  Department of Physics, Tohoku University

• Kohgi Masahumi

  Department of Physics, Tokyo Metropolitan University

• Higemoto Wataru

  Advanced Science Research Center, Japan Atomic Energy Agency

• MacLaughlin Douglas E.

  Department of Physics, University of California

• Sugawara Hitoshi

  Faculty of Integrated Arts and Sciences, The University of Tokushima

• Sato Hideyuki

  Department of Physics, Tokyo Metropolitan University

Bibliographic Information

Other Title

• The unconventional superconductivity of skutterudite PrOs4Sb12: time-reversal symmetry breaking and adjacent field-induced quadrupole ordering

Abstract

This review presents a summary and evaluation of the experimental properties of unconventional superconductivity in PrOs₄Sb₁₂. After a brief introduction of filled skutterudites, we argue that the normal-state properties of PrOs₄Sb₁₂ are quite different from ordinary heavy-fermion superconductors, in the sense that the 4f-electrons seem to be well localized even at low temperatures where the superconductivity appears. This is reflected in the existence of a field-induced antiferro-quadrupole ordering of Pr 4f-electrons. It is shown that the 4f collective excitations can be described as quadrupolar excitons. Their strong temperature dependence in close correlation with the superconductivity suggests a conjecture that the superconducting mechanism may involve quadrupolar-exciton-mediated pairing of some kind. Although the structure of the superconducting order parameter is far from conclusive, outstanding experimental observations reported to date reveal the uniqueness of the unconventional superconducting state. Special focus is given to time-reversal symmetry breaking in the superconducting state. The article concludes with a discussion of some key issues and desirable future work.

Journal

• Journal of the Physical Society of Japan

  Journal of the Physical Society of Japan 76 (5), 051006-051006, 2007

  THE PHYSICAL SOCIETY OF JAPAN

Keywords

• filled skutterudite
• heavy fermion superconductor
• time-reversal symmetry breaking
• quadrupolar exciton
• quadrupole ordering
• PrOs<SUB>4</SUB>Sb<SUB>12</SUB>

Details

• CRID: 1390282679170519040
• NII Article ID: 130005296738
• NII Article ID: 110006273162
• NII Article ID: 210000106667
• NII Book ID: AA00704814
• DOI: 10.1143/jpsj.76.051006
• BIBCODE: 2007JPSJ...76e1006A
• ISSN: 13474073
• ISSN: 00319015
• ISSN: http://id.crossref.org/issn/00319015
• NDL BIB ID: 8728693
• Web Site: https://ndlsearch.ndl.go.jp/books/R000000004-I8728693
• Web Site: https://journals.jps.jp/doi/pdf/10.1143/JPSJ.76.051006
• Text Lang: en
• Data Source:
  • JaLC
  • NDL
  • Crossref
  • CiNii Articles
• Abstract License Flag: Disallowed