Anomalous Upper Critical Field in CeCoIn_5/YbCoIn_5 Superlattices with a Rashba-type Heavy Fermion Interface

Abstract

We report a highly unusual angular variation of the upper critical field (H_c2) in epitaxial superlattices CeCoIn_5(n)/YbCoIn_5(5), formed by alternating layers of n and a 5 unit-cell thick heavy-fermion superconductor CeCoIn_5 with a strong Pauli effect and normal metal YbCoIn_5, respectively. For the n=3 superlattice, H_{c2}(\theta) changes smoothly as a function of the field angle \theta. However, close to the superconducting transition temperature, H_{c2}(\theta) exhibits a cusp near the parallel field (\theta=0 deg). This cusp behavior disappears for n=4 and 5 superlattices. This sudden disappearance suggests the relative dominance of the orbital depairing effect in the n=3 superlattice, which may be due to the suppression of the Pauli effect in a system with local inversion symmetry breaking. Taking into account the temperature dependence of H_{c2}(\theta) as well, our results suggest that some exotic superconducting states, including a helical superconducting state, might be realized at high magnetic fields.