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Phys. Rev. Lett. 99, 067006 (2007) [4 pages]

Superconductivity on the Border of Weak Itinerant Ferromagnetism in UCoGe

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N. T. Huy1, A. Gasparini1, D. E. de Nijs1, Y. Huang1, J. C. P. Klaasse1, T. Gortenmulder1, A. de Visser1,*, A. Hamann2, T. Görlach2, and H. v. Löhneysen2,3
1Van der Waals-Zeeman Institute, University of Amsterdam, Valckenierstraat 65, 1018 XE Amsterdam, The Netherlands
2Physikalisches Institut, Universität Karlsruhe, D-76128 Karlsruhe, Germany
3Forschungszentrum Karlsruhe, Institut für Festkörperphysik, D-76021 Karlsruhe, Germany

Received 28 April 2007; published 10 August 2007

We report the coexistence of ferromagnetic order and superconductivity in UCoGe at ambient pressure. Magnetization measurements show that UCoGe is a weak ferromagnet with a Curie temperature TC=3  K and a small ordered moment m0=0.03μB. Superconductivity is observed with a resistive transition temperature Ts=0.8  K for the best sample. Thermal-expansion and specific-heat measurements provide solid evidence for bulk magnetism and superconductivity. The proximity to a ferromagnetic instability, the defect sensitivity of Ts, and the absence of Pauli limiting, suggest triplet superconductivity mediated by critical ferromagnetic fluctuations.

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© 2007 The American Physical Society

URL:
http://link.aps.org/doi/10.1103/PhysRevLett.99.067006
DOI:
10.1103/PhysRevLett.99.067006
PACS:
74.70.Tx, 74.20.Mn, 75.30.Kz

*devisser@science.uva.nl