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Simultaneous Nodal Superconductivity and Time-Reversal Symmetry Breaking in the Noncentrosymmetric Superconductor CaPtAs

T. Shang1,2,*, M. Smidman3, A. Wang3, L.-J. Chang4, C. Baines5, M. K. Lee4, Z. Y. Nie3, G. M. Pang3, W. Xie3 et al.

W. B. Jiang3, M. Shi6, M. Medarde1, T. Shiroka5,7, and H. Q. Yuan3,8,†

  • 1Laboratory for Multiscale Materials Experiments, Paul Scherrer Institut, Villigen CH-5232, Switzerland
  • 2Physik-Institut, Universität Zürich, Winterthurerstrasse 190, Zürich CH-8057, Switzerland
  • 3Center for Correlated Matter and Department of Physics, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310058, China
  • 4Department of Physics, National Cheng Kung University, Tainan 70101, Taiwan
  • 5Laboratory for Muon-Spin Spectroscopy, Paul Scherrer Institut, Villigen PSI CH-5232, Switzerland
  • 6Swiss Light Source, Paul Scherrer Institut, Villigen CH-5232, Switzerland
  • 7Laboratorium für Festkörperphysik, ETH Zürich, Zürich CH-8093, Switzerland
  • 8Collaborative Innovation Center of Advanced Microstructures, Nanjing Univeristy, Nanjing 210093, China

  • *Corresponding authors. tian.shang@psi.ch
  • †hqyuan@zju.edu.cn

Phys. Rev. Lett. 124, 207001 – Published 18 May, 2020

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.124.207001

Abstract

By employing a series of experimental techniques, we provide clear evidence that CaPtAs represents a rare example of a noncentrosymmetric superconductor which simultaneously exhibits nodes in the superconducting gap and broken time-reversal symmetry (TRS) in its superconducting state (below Tc≈1.5  K). Unlike in fully gapped superconductors, the magnetic penetration depth λ(T) does not saturate at low temperatures, but instead it shows a T2 dependence, characteristic of gap nodes. Both the superfluid density and the electronic specific heat are best described by a two-gap model comprising of a nodeless gap and a gap with nodes, rather than by single-band models. At the same time, zero-field muon-spin relaxation spectra exhibit increased relaxation rates below the onset of superconductivity, implying that TRS is broken in the superconducting state of CaPtAs, hence indicating its unconventional nature. Our observations suggest CaPtAs to be a new remarkable material that links two apparently disparate classes, that of TRS-breaking correlated magnetic superconductors with nodal gaps and the weakly correlated noncentrosymmetric superconductors with broken TRS, normally exhibiting only a fully gapped behavior.

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