https://doi.org/10.1140/epjb/e2010-00012-y
Double-stage continuous-discontinuous superconducting phase transition in the Pauli paramagnetic limit of a 3D superconductor: the URu2Si2 case
Schulich Faculty of Chemistry, Technion-Israel Institute of
Technology, 32000 Haifa, Israel
Corresponding author: chrvlzh@tx.technion.ac.il
Received:
6
May
2009
Revised:
18
November
2009
Published online:
15
January
2010
The sharp suppression of the de-Haas van-Alphen oscillations observed in the mixed superconducting (SC) state of the heavy fermion compound URu2Si2 is shown to confirm a theoretical prediction of a narrow double-stage SC phase transition, smeared by fluctuations, in a 3D paramagnetically-limited superconductor. The predicted scenario of a second order transition to a nonuniform (FFLO) state followed by a first order transition to a uniform SC state, obtained by using a non-perturbative approach, is also found to be consistent with recent thermal conductivity measurements performed on this material.
© EDP Sciences, Società Italiana di Fisica, Springer-Verlag, 2010