The F doped LaFeAsO, a recently discovered superconductor with the high Tc of 26 K, has been studied by the resistivity, magnetic susceptibility, and heat capacity measurements in the F doping range from 0 to 0.14 (x in LaFeAsO1-xFx). In the low temperature region, a T3lnT term in the heat capacity and a T2 term in the magnetic susceptibility, which are derived from the spin fluctuation, are observed. The nearly ferromagnetic nature evidenced by a large Wilson ratio (6.5 for x = 0, and 11.2 for x = 0.025) suggests that the superconductivity in the LaFeAsO system is mediated by ferromagnetic spin fluctuation.
We report about muSR measurements on SmFeAsO1-xFx which helped us to identify the signature of diluted ferromagnetic inclusions, ubiquitous in the iron pnictides. These impurities are characterized by a Curie temperature close to room temperature and they seem responsible for a non negligible magnetic relaxation of the implanted muons, that should not be confused with intrinsic pnictide properties.
We report a systematic study by 75As nuclear-quadrupole resonance in LaFeAsO1-xFx. The antiferromagnetic spin fluctuation (AFSF) found above the magnetic ordering temperature TN = 58 K for x = 0.03 persists in the regime 0.04 < x < 0.08 where superconductivity sets in. A dome-shaped x-dependence of the superconducting transition temperature Tc is found, with the highest Tc = 27 K at x = 0.06 which is realized under significant AFSF. With increasing x further, the AFSF decreases, and so does Tc. These features resemble closely the cuprates La2-xSrxCuO4. In x = 0.06, the spin-lattice relaxation …
The mechanism of superconductivity and magnetism and their possible interplay have recently been under debate in pnictides. A likely pairing mechanism includes an important role of spin fluctuations and can be expressed in terms of the magnetic susceptibility chi. The latter is therefore a key quantity in the determination of both the magnetic properties of the system in the normal state, and of the contribution of spin fluctuations to the pairing potential. A basic ingredient to obtain chi is the independent-electron susceptibility chi0. Using LaO1-xFxFeAs as a prototype material, in this rep…
Electrical resistivities, Hall coefficients and thermoelectric powers have been measured for polycrystalline samples of LaFe1-yCoyAsO1-xFx (x=0.11) with various values of y. The results show that there exists clear distinction of these transport behaviors between the superconducting and nonsuperconducting metallic regions of y divided by the boundary value yc~0.05. We have found that the behaviors in both regions are very similar to those of high-Tc Cu oxides in the corresponding phases. If they reflect, as in the case of Cu oxides, effects of strong magnetic fluctuations, the energy scale of …
We present heat capacity measurements of the upper critical fields of single-crystal NdFeAsO1-xFx. In zero-magnetic field a clear step in the heat capacity is observed at Tc = 47K . In fields applied perpendicular to the FeAs-layers the step broadens significantly whereas for the in-plane orientation the field effects are small. This behavior is reminiscent of the CuO2-high-Tc superconductors and is a manifestation of pronounced fluctuation effects. Using an entropy conserving construction we determine the transition temperatures in applied fields and the upper critical field slopes of dHc2,a …
We report on the specific heat determination of the anisotropic phase diagram of single crystals of optimally doped SmFeAsO1-xFx. In zero-field, the optimally doped compound displays a clear cusp-like anomaly in C/T with ΔC/Tc = 24 mJ/molK2 at Tc = 49.5 K. In magnetic fields applied along the c-axis, we find pronounced superconducting fluctuations induced broadening and suppression of the specific heat anomaly which can be described using three-dimensional lowest-Landau-level scaling with an upper critical field slope of -3.5 T/K and an anisotropy of Γ = 8. The small value of ΔC/Tc yields a So…
The recent observation of superconductivity with critical temperatures up to 55 K in the FeAs based pnictide compounds marks the first discovery of a non copper-oxide based layered high-Tc superconductor (HTSC) [1-3]. It has raised the suspicion that these new materials share a similar pairing mechanism to the cuprates, since both exhibit superconductivity following charge doping of a magnetic parent material. Here we present a muon spin rotation study on SmFeAsO1-xFx (x=0-0.30), which shows that static magnetism persists well into the superconducting regime. The analogy with the cuprates is q…
Bulk polycrystalline samples, SmFeAsO and the iso-structural superconducting SmFeAsO0.80F0.20 are explored through resistivity with temperature under magnetic field ρ(T, H), AC and DC magnetization (M-T), and Specific heat (Cp) measurements. The Resistivity measurement shows superconductivity for x = 0.20 sample with Tc(onset) ~ 51.7K. The upper critical field, [Hc2(0)] is estimated ~3770kOe by Ginzburg-Landau (GL) theory. Broadening of superconducting transition in magneto transport is studied through thermally activated flux flow in applied field up to 130 kOe. The flux flow activation energ…
High purity iron, which transforms into the hcp phase under pressure, has recently been reported to be superconducing in the pressure range 150-300 kBar [shim]. The electronic structure and the electron-phonon coupling ($λ_{ph}$) are calculated for hcp iron at different volumes. A parameter-free theory for calculating the coupling constants $λ_{sf}$ from ferromagnetic (FM) and antiferromagnetic (AFM) spin fluctuations is developed. The calculated $λ_{sf}$ are sufficiently large to explain superconductivity especially from FM fluctuations. The results indicate that superconductivity mediated by…
We present measurements of the thermal expansion coefficient alpha of polycrystalline LaFeAsO1-xFx (x <= 0.1). The magnetic and structural transitions of the samples with x <= 0.04 give rise to large anomalies in alpha(T), while the onset of superconductivity in the crystals with x >= 0.05 is not resolved. Above the structural transition, the thermal expansion coefficient of LaFeAsO is significantly enhanced. This is attributed to fluctuations, which also affect the electrical transport properties of the compound. The complete absence of these fluctuations in the superconducting samples even f…
A microscopic theory for the NMR anomalies of the planar Cu and O sites in superconducting La_1.85Sr_0.15CuO_4 is presented that quantitatively explains the observations without the need to invoke anit-ferromagnetic spin fluctuations on the planar Cu sites and its significant discrepancy with the observed incommensurate neutron spin fluctuations. The theory is derived from the recently published ab-initio band structure calculations that correct LDA computations tendency to overestimate the self-coulomb repulsion for the half-filled Cu d_x2-y2 orbital for these ionic systems. The new band stru…
We have measured magnetization at high pressure in the uranium ferromagnetic superconductor UGe$_2$ and analyzed the magnetic data using Takahashi's spin fluctuation theory. There is a peak in the pressure dependence of the width of the spin fluctuation spectrum in the energy space $T_0$ at $P_x$, the phase boundary of FM1 and FM2 where the superconducting transition temperature $T_{sc}$ is highest. This suggests a clear correlation between the superconductivity and pressure-enhanced magnetic fluctuations developed at $P_x$. The pressure effect on $T_{Curie}/T_0$, where $T_{Curie}$ is the Curi…
The recent discovery of superconductivity coexisting with weak itinerant ferromagnetism in the $d$-electron intermetallic compound ZrZn$_{2}$ strongly suggests spin-fluctuation mediated superconductivity. {\it Ab initio} electronic structure calculations of the Fermi surface and generalized susceptibilities are performed to investigate the viability of longitudinal spin-fluctuation-induced spin-triplet superconductivity in the ferromagnetic state. The critical temperature is estimated to be of the order of 1 K. Additionally, it is shown that in spite of a strong electron-phonon coupling ($λ_{p…
We theoretically study ferromagnetic (FM) fluctuations that are experimentally observed in the heavily overdoped region of cuprate superconductors. To explore the origin of FM fluctuations, we evaluate the spin susceptibilities of a single-band Hubbard model within the fluctuation exchange approximation. Model parameters are derived using the Wannierization technique and the constrained random phase approximation method based on the maximally localized Wannier functions. The constrained random phase approximation calculations reveal that the on-site Coulomb interaction decreases with an increa…
We study the occurrence and the origin of ferromagnetic fluctuations in the longitudinal spin susceptibility of the $t$-$t'$-Rashba-Hubbard model on the square lattice. The combined effect of the second-neighbor hopping $t'$ and the spin-orbit coupling leads to ferromagnetic fluctuations in a broad filling region. The spin-orbit coupling splits the energy bands, leading to two van Hove fillings, where the sheets of the Fermi surface change their topology. Between these two van Hove fillings the model shows ferromagnetic fluctuations. We find that these ferromagnetic fluctuations originate from…
We report low-temperature muon spin relaxation/rotation (muSR) measurements on single crystals of the actinide superconductor UTe2. Below 5 K we observe a continuous slowing down of magnetic fluctuations that persists through the superconducting (SC) transition temperature (Tc = 1.6 K), but we find no evidence of long-range or local magnetic order down to 0.025 K. The temperature dependence of the dynamic relaxation rate down to 0.4 K agrees with the self-consistent renormalization theory of spin fluctuations for a three-dimensional weak itinerant ferromagnetic metal. Our muSR measurements als…
Spin and charge fluctuations and superconductivity in Na_0.35CoO_2*1.3H_2O are studied based on a multi-orbital Hubbard model. By applying the fluctuation exchange (FLEX) approximation, we show that the Hund's-rule coupling between the Co t2g orbitals causes ferromagnetic spin fluctuation. Triplet pairing is favored by this ferromagnetic fluctuation on the hole-pocket band. We propose that, in Na_0.35CoO_2*1.3H_2O, Co t2g orbitals and inter-orbital Hund's-rule coupling play important roles on the triplet pairing, and this compound can be a first example of the triplet superconductor mediated b…
We propose a quantitative model for triplet superconductivity in Sr_2RuO_4 based on first principles calculations for the electronic structure and magnetic susceptibility. The superconductivity is due to ferromagnetic spin fluctuations, that are strong at small wave vectors. The calculated effective mass renormalization, renormalized susceptibility, and superconducting critical temperature are all in good agreement with experiment. The most stable superconducting solution has order parameters of comparable magnitude on all three sheets of the Fermi surface. We also propose an explanation of th…
We report neutron scattering measurements of single-crystalline YFe$_2$Ge$_2$ in the normal state, which has the same crystal structure to the 122 family of iron pnictide superconductors. YFe$_2$Ge$_2$ does not exhibit long range magnetic order, but exhibits strong spin fluctuations. Like the iron pnictides, YFe$_2$Ge$_2$ displays anisotropic stripe-type antiferromagnetic spin fluctuations at ($π$, $0$, $π$). More interesting, however, is the observation of strong spin fluctuations at the in-plane ferromagnetic wavevector ($0$, $0$, $π$). These ferromagnetic spin fluctuations are isotropic in …
We have carried out direction-dependent ^{59}Co NMR experiments on a single crystal sample of the ferromagnetic superconductor UCoGe in order to study the magnetic properties in the normal state. The Knight shift and nuclear spin-lattice relaxation rate measurements provide microscopic evidence that both static and dynamic susceptibilities are ferromagnetic with strong Ising anisotropy. We discuss that superconductivity induced by these magnetic fluctuations prefers spin-triplet pairing state.
We investigated Fe-substitution effects on ferromagnetic fluctuations in the superconducting overdoped and non-superconducting heavily overdoped regimes of the Bi-2201 cuprates by the magnetization and electrical-resistivity measurements. It was found that the spin-glass state was induced at low temperatures by the Fe substitution. The Curie constant and the effective Bohr magneton, estimated from the magnetic susceptibility, as well as the dimensionality of the ferromagnetic fluctuations from the resistivity, suggest the enhancement of the ferromagnetic fluctuations owing to the Fe substituti…
We propose to exploit currently available tunnel ferromagnetic Josephson junctions to realize a hybrid superconducting qubit. We show that the characteristic hysteretic behavior of the ferromagnetic barrier provides an alternative and intrinsically digital tuning of the qubit frequency by means of magnetic field pulses. To illustrate functionalities and limitation of the device, we discuss the coupling to a read-out resonator and the effect of magnetic fluctuations. The possibility to use the qubit as a noise detector and its relevance to investigate the subtle interplay of magnetism and super…
We report $^{75}$As nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) and nuclear quadrupole resonance (NQR) studies on the superconductor Rb$_{2}$Cr$_{3}$As$_{3}$ with a quasi one-dimensional crystal structure. Below $T\sim$ 100 K, the spin-lattice relaxation rate (1/$T_{1}$) divided by temperature, 1/$T_{1}T$, increases upon cooling down to $T_{\rm c}$ = 4.8 K, showing a Curie-Weiss-like temperature dependence. The Knight shift also increases with decreasing temperature. These results suggest ferromagnetic spin fluctuation. In the superconducting state, 1/$T_{1}$ decreases rapidly below $T_{\text{c}}$ withou…
From detailed angle-resolved NMR and Meissner measurements on a ferromagnetic (FM) superconductor UCoGe (T_Curie ~ 2.5 K and T_SC ~ 0.6 K), we show that superconductivity in UCoGe is tightly coupled with longitudinal FM spin fluctuations along the c axis. We found that magnetic fields along the c axis (H || c) strongly suppress the FM fluctuations and that the superconductivity is observed in the limited magnetic field region where the longitudinal FM spin fluctuations are active. These results combined with model calculations strongly suggest that the longitudinal FM spin fluctuations tuned b…
Spin and charge fluctuations and superconductivity in a recently discovered superconductor Na_xCoO_2*yH_2O are studied based on a multi-orbital Hubbard model. Tight-binding parameters are determined to reproduce the LDA band dispersions with the Fermi surface, which consist of a large cylindrical one around the Gamma-point and six hole pockets near the K-points. By applying the fluctuation-exchange (FLEX) approximation, we show that the Hund's-rule coupling between the Co t2g orbitals causes ferromagnetic (FM) spin fluctuation. Triplet f_{y(y^2-3x^2)}-wave and p-wave pairings are favored by th…
We present neutron scattering spectra taken from a single crystal of Na0.75CoO2, the precursor to a novel cobalt-oxide superconductor. The data contain a prominent inelastic signal at low energies (~10 meV), which is localized in wavevector about the origin of two-dimensional reciprocal space. The signal is highly dispersive, and decreases in intensity with increasing temperature. We interpret these observations as direct evidence for the existence of ferromagnetic spin fluctuations within the cobalt-oxygen layers.
A spin-triplet superconducting state mediated by ferromagnetic (FM) spin fluctuations has been suggested to occur in the newly discovered heavy-fermion superconductor UTe$_2$. However, the recent neutron scattering measurements revealed the presence of antiferromagnetic (AFM) spin fluctuations in UTe$_2$. Here, we report the $^{125}$Te nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) studies of a single-crystal UTe$_2$, suggesting the coexistence of FM and AFM spin fluctuations in UTe$_2$. Owing to the two different Te sites in the compound, we conclude that the FM spin fluctuations are dominant within ladder…
UCoGe is reported as a weak ferromagnetic (FM) two-band superconductor (SC) with the critical temperature, $T_{\mathrm{SC}}\sim$ 0.7 K and the Curie temperature, $T_{\mathrm{C}}\sim$ 3 K at ambient pressure. We report exotic attributes of the SC and FM state in moderate magnetic fields. The observed phenomena clearly demonstrate that the SC regime is superior to the paramagnetic state in the vicinity of $T_{\mathrm{SC}}$. Above $T_{\mathrm{SC}}$, the zero-field state is characterized by a regime with strong FM spin fluctuations, suggesting proximity of the FM quantum critical point (FM-QCP). I…
In the iron pnictide superconductors, theoretical calculations have consistently shown enhancements of the static magnetic susceptibility at both the stripe-type antiferromagnetic (AFM) and in-plane ferromagnetic (FM) wavevectors. However, the possible existence of FM fluctuations has not yet been examined from a microscopic point of view. Here, using $^{75}$As NMR data, we provide clear evidence for the existence of FM spin correlations in both the hole- and electron-doped BaFe$_2$As$_2$ families of iron-pnictide superconductors. These FM fluctuations appear to compete with superconductivity …
Superconductivity in crystals without inversion symmetry has received extensive attention due to its unconventional pairing and possible nontrivial topological properties. Using first-principles calculations, we systemically study the electronic structure of noncentrosymmetric superconductors $A_2$Cr$_3$As$_3$ ($A$=Na, K, Rb and Cs). Topologically protected triply degenerate points connected by one-dimensional arcs appear along the $C_{3}$ axis, coexisting with strong ferromagnetic (FM) fluctuations in the non-superconducting state. Within random phase approximation, our calculations show that…
We propose a mechanism of spin-triplet superconductivity at the edge of $d$-wave superconductors. Recent theoretical research in $d$-wave superconductors predicted that strong ferromagnetic (FM) fluctuations are induced by large density of states due to edge Andreev bound states (ABS). Here, we construct the linearized gap equation for the edge-induced superconductivity, and perform a numerical study based on a large cluster Hubbard model with bulk $d$-wave superconducting (SC) gap. We find that ABS-induced strong FM fluctuations mediate the $d \pm ip$-wave SC state, in which the time-reversal…
It is shown that anomalous properties of UGe_2 can be understood in a unified way on the basis of a single assumption that the superconductivity is mediated by the coupled SDW and CDW fluctuations induced by the imperfect nesting of the Fermi surface with majority spins at T=T_x(P) deep in the ferromagnetic phase. Excess growth of uniform magnetization is shown to develop in the temperature range T<T_x(P) as a mode-coupling effect of coupled growth of SDW and CDW orderings, which has been observed by two different types of experiments. The coupled CDW and SDW fluctuations are shown to be essen…
The self-energy, spectral functions and susceptibilities of 2D systems with strong ferromagnetic fluctuations are considered within the quasistatic approach. The self-energy at low temperatures T has a non-Fermi liquid form in the energy window w<Delta near the Fermi level, where Delta is the ground-state spin splitting for magnetically ordered ground state, and Delta ~ T^(1/2) ln^(1/2)(vF/T) in the quantum critical regime (vF is the Fermi velocity). Spectral functions have a two-peak structure at finite T above the magnetically ordered ground state, which implies quasi-splitting of the Fermi …
We demonstrate the presence of ferromagnetic (FM) fluctuations in the superconducting and non-superconducting heavily overdoped regimes of high-temperature superconducting copper oxides, using (Bi,Pb)_2_Sr_2_CuO_6+delta_ (Bi-2201) single crystals. Magnetization curves exhibit a tendency to be saturated in high magnetic fields at low temperatures in the heavily overdoped crystals, which is probably a precursor phenomenon of a FM transition at a lower temperature. Muon spin relaxation detects the enhancement of spin fluctuations at high temperatures below 200 K. Correspondingly, the ab-plane res…
We report neutron scattering measurements of critical magnetic excitations in the weakly ferromagnetic superconductor UCoGe. The strong non-Landau damping of the excitations we observe, although unusual has been found in another related ferromagnet, UGe2 at zero pressure. However, we also find there is a significant anisotropy of the magnetic correlation length in UCoGe that contrasts with an almost isotropic length for UGe2. The values of the magnetic correlation length and damping are found to be compatible with superconductivity on small Fermi surface pockets. The anisotropy may be importan…
The low temperature specific heat of the superconductor MgCNi$_3$ and a non-superconductor MgC$_{0.85}$Ni$_3$ is investigated in detail. An additional contribution is observed from the data of MgCNi$_3$ but absent in MgC$_{0.85}$Ni$_3$, which is demonstrated to be insensitive to the applied magnetic field even up to 12 Tesla. A detailed discussion on its origin is then presented. By subtracting this additional contribution, the zero field specific heat of MgCNi$_3$ can be well described by the BCS theory with the gap ratio ($Δ/k_BT_c$) determined by the previous tunneling measurements. The con…
We use inelastic neutron scattering to study energy and wave vector dependence of spin fluctuations in SrCo$_2$As$_2$, derived from SrFe$_{2-x}$Co$_x$As$_2$ iron pnictide superconductors. Our data reveals the coexistence of antiferromagnetic (AF) and ferromagnetic (FM) spin fluctuations at wave vectors $\textbf{Q}_{\rm AF}$=(1,0) and $\textbf{Q}_{\rm FM}$=(0,0)/(2,0), respectively. By comparing neutron scattering results with those of dynamic mean field theory calculation and angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy experiments, we conclude that both AF and FM spin fluctuations in SrCo$_2$As$…
Identification of pairing mechanisms leading to the unconventional superconductivity realized in copper-oxide, heavy-fermions, and organic compounds is one of the most challenging issues in condensed-matter physics. Clear evidence for an electron-phonon mechanism in conventional superconductors is seen by the isotope effect on the superconducting transition temperatures $T_{\rm SC}$, since isotopic substitution varies the phonon frequency without affecting the electronic states. In unconventional superconductors, magnetic fluctuations have been proposed to mediate superconductivity, and consid…
Motivated by the recent experiment of Wang et al. [Nature Physics 6, 389 (2010)], who observed a highly unusual transport behavior of ferromagnetic Cobalt nanowires proximity-coupled to superconducting electrodes, we study proximity effect and temperature-dependent transport in such a mesoscopic hybrid structure. It is assumed that the asymmetry in the tunneling barrier gives rise to the Rashba spin-orbit-coupling in the barrier that enables induced p-wave superconductivity in the ferromagnet to exist. We first develop a microscopic theory of Andreev scattering at the spin-orbit-coupled interf…
$^{73}$Ge and $^{59}$Co nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) and nuclear quadrupole resonance (NQR) measurements have been performed on a $^{73}$Ge-enriched single-crystalline sample of the ferromagnetic superconductor UCoGe in the paramagnetic state. The $^{73}$Ge NQR parameters deduced from NQR and NMR are close to those of another isostructural ferromagnetic superconductor URhGe. The Knight shifts of the Ge and Co sites are well scaled to each other when the magnetic field is parallel to the $b$ or $c$ axis. The hyperfine coupling constants of Ge are estimated to be close to those of Co. The la…
A $^{59}$Co nuclear quadrupole resonance (NQR) was performed on a single-crystalline ferromagnetic (FM) superconductor UCoGe under pressure. The FM phase vanished at a critical pressure $P_c$, and the NQR spectrum just below $P_c$ showed phase separation of the FM and paramagnetic (PM) phases below Curie temperature $T_{\textrm{Curie}}$, suggesting first-order FM quantum phase transition (QPT). We found that the internal field was absent above $P_c$, but the superconductivity is almost unchanged. This result suggests the existence of the nonunitary to unitary transition of the superconductivit…
It is developed a microscopic description of superconductivity in ferromagnetic materials with triplet pairing triggered by the exchange of magnetic fluctuations. Instead widely used paramagnon model we work with phenomenological spectrum of fluctuations in the orthorhombic ferromagnet with strong magnetic anisotropy. Depending of the field orientation parallel or perpendicular to the direction of spontaneous magnetization the effective amplitude of pairing interaction proves to be decreasing or increasing function of magnetic field that allows to explain the drastic difference in magnitudes o…
Co nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) and nuclear quadrupole resonance (NQR) studies were performed in the recently discovered UCoGe, in which the ferromagnetic and superconducting (SC) transitions were reported to occur at $T_{\rm Curie} \sim 3$ K and $T_S \sim 0.8$ K (N. T. Huy {\it et al.}, Phys. Rev. Lett. {\bf 99} (2007) 067006), in order to investigate the coexistence of ferromagnetism and superconductivity as well as the normal-state and SC properties from a microscopic point of view. From the nuclear spin-lattice relaxation rate $1/T_1$ and Knight-shift measurements, we confirmed that fe…
We study the ferromagnetic superconductor UCoGe at ambient pressure under $ab$-plane magnetic fields $\vec{H}$ which are perpendicular to the ferromagnetic easy axis. It is shown that, by taking into account the Dyaloshinskii-Moriya interaction arising from the zigzag chain crystal structure of UCoGe, we can qualitatively explain the experimentally observed in-plane anisotropy for critical magnetic fields of the paramagnetic transition. Because of this strong dependence on the magnetic field direction, upper critical fields of superconductivity, which is mediated by ferromagnetic spin fluctuat…
Co NQR studies were performed in recently discovered superconductor Na$_x$CoO$_2$$\cdot y$H$_2$O to investigate physical properties in the superconducting (SC) and normal states. Two samples from the same Na$_x$CoO$_2$ were examined, SC bilayer-hydrate sample with $T_c \sim 4.7$ K and non-SC monolayer-hydrate sample. From the measurement of nuclear-spin lattice relaxation rate $1/T_1$ in the SC sample, it was found that the coherence peak is absent just below $T_c$ and that $1/T_1$ is proportional to temperature far below $T_c$. These results, which are in qualitatively agreement with the prev…
A theory is developed for the spontaneous vortex lattice that is expected to occur in the ferromagnetic superconductors ZrZn_2, UGe_2, and URhGe, where the superconductivity is likely of spin-triplet nature. The long-wavelength fluctuations of this spontaneous flux lattice are predicted to be huge compared to those of a conventional flux lattice, and to be the same as those for spin-singlet ferromagnetic superconductors. It is shown that these fluctuations lead to unambiguous experimental signatures which may provide the easiest way to observe the spontaneous flux lattice.
Using the renormalization group method, new type of fluctuation-driven first order phase transitions and critical phenomena are predicted for certain classes of ferromagnetic superconductors and superfluids with unconventional (spin-triplet) Cooper pairing. The problem for the quantum phase transitions at extremely low and zero temperatures is also discussed. The results can be applied to a wide class of ferromagnetic superconductive and superfluid systems, in particular, to itinerant ferromagnets as UGe2 and URhGe.
The emergence of unconventional superconductivity is generally considered to be related to spin fluctuations. Unveiling the intriguing behaviors of spin fluctuations in parent compounds with layered transition-metal ions may shed light on the search for exotic unconventional superconductors. Here, based on the framework of the first-principles calculations, we theoretically propose that LaCoSb$_2$ is a weak antiferromagnetic layered metal with an in-plane ferromagnetic moment of 0.88 $μ_B$ at the Co sites, as a candidate parent compound of the cobalt-based superconductors. Importantly, this th…
Inelastic neutron scattering was used to study the low energy magnetic excitations of the ferromagnetic superconductor UGe$_{2}$. The ferromagnetic fluctuations are of Ising nature with a non-conserved magnetization and have an intermediate behavior between localized and itinerant magnetism.
We study the renormalization of the quasiparticle properties in weak ferromagnetic metals, due to spin fluctuations, away from the quantum critical point for small magnetic moment. We explain the origin of the s-wave superconducting instability in the ferromagnetic phase and find that the vertex corrections are small and Migdal's theorem is satisfied away from the quantum critical point.
We address the quantum-critical behavior of a two-dimensional itinerant ferromagnetic systems described by a spin-fermion model in which fermions interact with close to critical bosonic modes. We consider Heisenberg ferromagnets, Ising ferromagnets, and the Ising nematic transition. Mean-field theory close to the quantum critical point predicts a superconducting gap with spin-triplet symmetry for the ferromagnetic systems and a singlet gap for the nematic scenario. Studying fluctuations in this ordered phase using a nonlinear sigma model, we find that these fluctuations are not suppressed by a…
Motivated by the recent observation of ferromagnetic spin correlations in the filled skutterudite SrFe$_4$As$_{12}$ [Ding et al., Phys. Rev. B 98, 155149 (2018)], we have carried out $^{75}$As nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) and nuclear quadrupole resonance (NQR) measurements to investigate the role of magnetic fluctuations in a newly discovered isostructural superconductor SrOs$_4$As$_{12}$ with a superconducting transition temperature of $T_{\rm c}$ $\sim$ 4.8 K. Knight shift $K$ determined by the NQR spectrum under a small magnetic field ($\le$ 0.5 T) is nearly independent of temperature, …
We study the elasticity, fluctuations and pinning of a putative spontaneous vortex solid in ferromagnetic superconductors. Using a rigorous thermodynamic argument, we show that in the idealized case of vanishing crystalline pinning anisotropy the long-wavelength tilt modulus of such a vortex solid vanishes identically, as guaranteed by the underlying rotational invariance. The vanishing of the tilt modulus means that, to lowest order, the associated tension elasticity is replaced by the softer, curvature elasticity. The effect of this is to make the spontaneous vortex solid qualitatively more …
Superconductivity mediated by spin fluctuations in weak and nearly ferromagnetic metals is studied close to the zero-temperature magnetic transition. We solve analytically the Eliashberg equations for p-wave pairing and obtain the normal state quasiparticle self-energy and the superconducting transition temperature $T_c$ as a function of the distance to the quantum critical point. We show that the reduction of quasiparticle coherence and life-time due to scattering by quasistatic spin fluctuations is the dominant pair-breaking process, which leads to a rapid suppression of $T_c$ to a nonzero v…
It is shown that the critical temperature for spin-triplet, p-wave superconductivity mediated by spin fluctuations is generically much higher in a Heisenberg ferromagnetic phase than in a paramagnetic one, due to the coupling of the magnons to the longitudinal magnetic susceptibility. Together with the tendency of the low-temperature ferromagnetic transition in very clean Heisenberg magnets to be of first order, this qualitatively explains the phase diagram recently observed in UGe_2.
Recent nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) measurements revealed the coexistence of stripe-type antiferromagnetic (AFM) and ferromagnetic (FM) spin correlations in both the hole- and electron-doped BaFe$_2$As$_2$ families of iron-pnictide superconductors by a Korringa ratio analysis. Motivated by the NMR work, we investigate the possible existence of FM fluctuations in another iron pnictide superconducting family, Ca(Fe$_{1-x}$Co$_x$)$_2$As$_2$. We re-analyzed our previously reported data in terms of the Korringa ratio and found clear evidence for the coexistence of stripe-type AFM and FM spin co…
In the recently discovered Co-oxide superconductor Na_xCoO_2*yH_2O, the edge-shared CoO6 octahedra are trigonally contracted along the c-axis in the CoO2-plane. We study how this CoO6 distortion affects the magnetic properties and superconductivity in this compound by analyzing the multiorbital Hubbard model using the fluctuation-exchange approximation. It is shown that through generating the trigonal crystal field, the distortion pushes the Co e'g bands up and consequently gives rise to the hole-pocket Fermi surfaces, which have been predicted in the band calculations. As the distortion incre…
