Atypical vortex lattice and the magnetic penetration depth in superconducting Sr$_2$RuO$_4$ deduced by $\mu$SR

Abstract

The muon spin rotation ($\mu$SR) technique has been applied to determine the behavior of the in-plane magnetic penetration depth ($\lambda_{ab}$) in the vortex state of the unconventional superconductor Sr$_2$RuO$_4$ as a means of gaining insight into its still unknown superconducting order parameter. A recent $\mu$SR study of Sr$_2$RuO$_4$ reported a $T$-linear temperature dependence for $\lambda_{ab}$ at low temperatures that was not identified in an earlier $\mu$SR study. Here we show that there is no significant difference between the data in the early and recent $\mu$SR studies and both are compatible with the limiting low-temperature $\lambda_{ab} \sim T^2$ dependence expected from measurements of the change in $\lambda_{ab}(T)$ in the Meissner state by other techniques. However, we argue that at this time there is no valid theoretical model for reliably determining the absolute value of $\lambda_{ab}$ in Sr$_2$RuO$_4$ from $\mu$SR measurements. Instead, we identify the formation of an unusual square vortex lattice that introduces a new constraint on candidate superconducting order parameters for Sr$_2$RuO$_4$.