Phys. Rev. Lett. 102, 117007 (2009) [4 pages]Evidence for Time-Reversal Symmetry Breaking in the Noncentrosymmetric Superconductor LaNiC2See Also: Erratum Received 21 October 2008; published 20 March 2009 Muon spin relaxation experiments on the noncentrosymmetric intermetallic superconductor LaNiC2 are reported. We find that the onset of superconductivity coincides with the appearance of spontaneous magnetic fields, implying that in the superconducting state time-reversal symmetry is broken. An analysis of the possible pairing symmetries suggests only four triplet states compatible with this observation, all of them nonunitary. They include the intriguing possibility of triplet pairing with the full point group symmetry of the crystal, which is possible only in a noncentrosymmetric superconductor. © 2009 The American Physical Society URL:
http://link.aps.org/doi/10.1103/PhysRevLett.102.117007
DOI:
10.1103/PhysRevLett.102.117007
PACS:
74.20.Rp, 74.70.Dd, 76.75.+i
See AlsoErratum: A. D. Hillier, J. Quintanilla, and R. Cywinski, Erratum: Evidence for Time-Reversal Symmetry Breaking in the Noncentrosymmetric Superconductor LaNiC2 [Phys. Rev. Lett. 102, 117007 (2009).], Phys. Rev. Lett. 105, 229901 (2010). |
|
About | Terms and Conditions | Subscriptions | Search | Help
Use of the American Physical Society websites and journals implies that the user has read and agrees to our Terms and Conditions and any applicable Subscription Agreement. Physical Review®, Physical Review Letters®, Reviews of Modern Physics®, and Physical Review Special Topics® are trademarks of the American Physical Society.