Unconventional superconductivity in Na$_{0.35}$CoO$_{2}\cdot$1.3D$_{2}$O and proximity to a magnetically ordered phase

Abstract

Muon spin relaxation ($μ$SR) measurements on the new layered cobalt oxide superconductor Na$_{0.35}$CoO$_{2}\cdot$1.3H$_{2}$O and its parent, non-superconducting compounds, have revealed unconventional nature of superconductivity through: (1) a small superfluid energy which implies a surprisingly high effective mass of the charge carriers, approximately 100 times the bare electron mass; (2) the superconducting transition temperature $T_{c}$ scaling with the superfluid energy following the correlations found in high-$T_{c}$ cuprate and some other two-dimensional superconductors; (3) an anisotropic pairing without broken time-reversal symmetry; and (4) the proximity of a magnetically ordered insulating phase at Na$_{0.5}$CoO$_{2}$ below $T_{N}$ = 53 K.