Skip to content

Delocalized quasiparticles throughout the vortex state in s-wave superconductor LuNi2B2C

Etienne Boaknin, R. W. Hill, Cyril Proust, C. Lupien, Louis Taillefer, P. C. Canfield

cond-mat.supr-conarXiv:cond-mat/0012436

Abstract

Quasiparticle transport in the vortex state of an s-wave superconductor at T -> 0 was investigated by measuring the thermal conductivity of LuNi2B2C down to 70 mK in a magnetic field perpendicular to the heat current. In zero field, there is no electronic conduction, as expected for a superconducting gap without nodes. However, as soon as vortices enter the sample quasiparticles are seen to conduct remarkably well, even better than they would in a typical d-wave superconductor. This is in stark conflict with the widely held view that quasiparticle states in s-wave superconductors just above Hc1 should be localized and bound to the vortex core.

Create a lesson