Heavy fermions have served as prototype examples of strongly-correlated electron systems. The occurrence of unconventional superconductivity in close proximity to the electronic instabilities associated with various degrees of freedom points to an intricate relationship between superconductivity and other electronic states, which is unique but also shares some common features with high temperature superconductivity. The magnetic order in heavy fermion compounds can be continuously suppressed by tuning external parameters to a quantum critical point, and the role of quantum criticality in determining the properties of heavy fermion systems is an important unresolved issue. Here we review the recent progress of studies on Ce based heavy fermion superconductors, with an emphasis on the superconductivity emerging on the edge of magnetic and charge instabilities as well as the quantum phase transitions which occur by tuning different parameters, such as pressure, magnetic field and doping. We discuss systems where multiple quantum critical points occur and whether they can be classified in a unified manner, in particular in terms of the evolution of the Fermi surface topology.
Near a quantum-critical point in a metal strong fermion-fermion interaction mediated by a soft collective boson gives rise to incoherent, non-Fermi liquid behavior. It also often gives rise to superconductivity which masks the non-Fermi liquid behavior. We analyze the interplay between superconductivity and fermionic incoherence for a set of quantum-critical models with effective dynamical interaction between low-energy fermions. We argue that superconductivity always develops above a quantum-critical point, no matter how strong the fermionic self-energy is. We argue that superconductivity sho…
In heavy fermion systems, higher-rank multipole operators are active thanks to the strong spin-orbit interaction (SOI), and the role of diverse multipole fluctuations on the pairing mechanism attracts a lot of attention. Here, we study a mechanism of superconductivity in heavy fermion systems, by focusing on the impact of vertex corrections (VCs) for the pairing interaction going beyond the Migdal approximation. In heavy fermion systems, strong interference between multipole fluctuations cause significant VCs, that represent many-body effects beyond mean-field-type approximations. Especially, …
Motivated by a scarcity of simple and analytically tractable models of superconductivity from strong repulsive interactions, we introduce a simple tight-binding lattice model of fermions with repulsive interactions that exhibits unconventional superconductivity (beyond BCS theory). The model resembles an idealized conductor-dielectric-conductor trilayer. The Cooper pair consists of electrons on opposite sides of the dielectric, which mediates the attraction. In the strong coupling limit, we use degenerate perturbation theory to show that the model reduces to a superconducting hard-core Bose-Hu…
We use the spin-fermion model to describe the CuO$_2$ planes of the high-Tc superconductors. Using a large wavelength approach, we show that the ferromagnetic component of the Cu spin fluctuations couple to the oxygen holes producing a pairing interaction that leads to a superconducting gap whose symmetry is determined by the anisotropy of the Kondo interaction. We calculate Tc as a function of the hole concentration in a mean-field approximation and our numerical results are in good agreement with the experiments.
Heavy fermion superconductivity: X-boson treatment
我们用X玻色子方法研究了重费米子超导性，在$ U = \infty $极限下，扩展了周期性Anderson模型，在局域$ f $ -电子之间存在最近邻吸引相互作用，我们表明，较高的杂化参数值意味着与超导临界温度最大值相关的较低的杂化参数值$ T_{c} $，这表明能带之间的真实电荷转移倾向于使库珀配对不稳定。此外，我们表明，超导性被限制在附近的职业范围内，在费米能级$ ρ_{f} (μ) $的$ f $ -带态密度有足够高的值，虽然超导性被发现的配置，系统目前的中间价和重费米子的行为，实验观察到。最后，随着总占有率的提高和杂交参数$ V $的增加，存在绝缘体-超导体转变，这与存在无法通过从玻色子方法获得的杂交间隙有关。
Proximity induced superconductivity by Bi in topological $Bi_2Te_2Se$ and $Bi_2Se_3$ films: Evidence for a robust zero energy bound state possibly due to Majorana Fermions
Superconductivity and magnetism are mutually exclusive in most alloys and elements, so it is striking that superconductivity emerges around a magnetic quantum critical point (QCP) in many strongly correlated electron systems (SCES). In the latter case superconductivity is believed to be unconventional and directly influenced by the QCP. However, experimentally unconventional superconductivity has neither been established nor directly been linked to any mechanism of the QCP. Here we report measurements in the heavy-fermion superconductors CeIrSi$_3$ and CeRhSi$_3$. The measurements were perform…
We report an {\it in-situ} scanning tunneling microscopy study of atomically thin films of CeCoIn$_5$, a $d$-wave heavy-fermion superconductor. Both hybridization and superconducting gaps are observed even in monolayer CeCoIn$_5$, providing direct evidence of superconductivity of heavy quasiparticles mediated by purely two-dimensional bosonic excitations. In these atomically thin films, $T_c$ is suppressed to nearly half of the bulk, but is similar to CeCoIn$_5$/YbCoIn$_5$ superlattices containing CeCoIn$_5$ layers with the same thickness as the thin films. Remarkably, the out-of-plane upper c…
Competition between phonon superconductivity and Kondo screening in mixed valence and heavy fermion compounds
本文用周期Anderson模型的唯象方法研究了重费米子和混合价超导体中近藤效应与s波超导性的竞争。类似于超导体中单杂质近藤效应的已知结果，我们在较窄的模型参数和f电子浓度范围内，发现了重费米子超导体中超导转变温度$T_c$的重入区的主要可能性。混合价超导体中$T_c$的抑制作用要弱得多。在没有$T_c$重入行为的低温费米液相区，我们的理论是最有效的。为了检验其适用性，我们对Ce $_{1-x}$ La $_x$ Ru $_3$ Si $_2$中的$T_c$的$x$依赖性进行了拟合，并获得了与实验数据的极好的一致性，尽管在这种情况下没有发现再进入。根据我们的理论分析讨论了其他实验数据。特别是，我们比较了一些已知同系物的超导转变温度，即，具有和不具有f元素的模拟周期晶格化合物。对于少数几对同系物，超导电性只存在于重费米子材料中，从而证实了后者的超导电性机制的唯一性。我们认为，对于某些其他化合物的$T_c$的值可能保持在相同的数量级在两个同系物，如果超导性主要起源于一些轻费米表面，但诱导相当大的超导能隙在另一个费米表面，其中杂化或其他重费米子效应更显着。
We explore a spin-fermion model with fermion-spin-quadrupolar interaction. In a nematic phase, this interaction reduces to a four-fermion interaction that is a basis of superconductivity. When the coupling constant is positive the superconductivity is p-wave with spin-parallel paired fermions. When it is negative the superconductivity is p-wave and fermions are spin-antiparallel paired. For a system with zero chemical potential, even a very small coupling can bind fermions into bound state that leads to the superconductivity. When the chemical potential is non-zero the system possesses quantum…
Despite almost 40 years of research, the origin of heavy-fermion superconductivity is still strongly debated. Especially, the pressure-induced enhancement of superconductivity in CeCu$_2$Si$_2$ away from the magnetic breakdown is not sufficiently taken into consideration. As recently reported in CeCu$_2$Si$_2$ and several related compounds, optimal superconductivity occurs at the pressure of a valence crossover, which arises from a virtual critical end point at negative temperature $T_{\rm cr}$. In this context, we did a meticulous analysis of a vast set of top-quality high-pressure electrical…
The most intriguing observation of cuprate experiments is most likely the metal-insulator-crossover (MIC), seen in the underdome region of the temperature-doping phase diagram of copper-oxides under a strong magnetic field, when the superconductivity is suppressed. This MIC, which results in such phenomena as heat conductivity downturn, anomalous Lorentz ratio, nonlinear entropy, insulating ground state, nematicity- and stripe-phases and Fermi pockets, reveals the nonconventional dielectric property of the pseudogap-normal phase. Since conventional superconductivity appears from a conducting n…
In this paper the low-temperature properties of two isostructural canonical heavy-fermion compounds are contrasted with regards to the interplay between antiferromagnetic (AF) quantum criticality and superconductivity. For CeCu$_2$Si$_2$, fully-gapped d-wave superconductivity forms in the vicinity of an itinerant three-dimensional heavy-fermion spin-density-wave (SDW) quantum critical point (QCP). Inelastic neutron scattering results highlight that both quantum critical SDW fluctuations as well as Mott-type fluctuations of local magnetic moments contribute to the formation of Cooper pairs in C…
Charge density wave fluctuations, heavy electrons, and superconductivity in KNi$_2$S$_2$
理解固体中电子和磁性基态的复杂性是固体物理学的主要目标之一。具有典型的ThCr $_2$ Si $_2$型结构的材料在这方面已经证明是特别有成效的，因为它们表现出由“多体物理学”描述的广泛的技术上有利的物理性质，包括高温超导性和重费米子行为。在这里，使用高分辨率的同步辐射X射线衍射和飞行时间中子散射，我们表明，同构混合价化合物，KNi $_2$ S $_2$，显示了一些非常不寻常的结构转变，最值得注意的是存在的电荷密度波波动，冷却时消失。与基于所有其他已知材料的预期相反，这种行为在没有磁性或电荷顺序的情况下发生。此外，发现KNi $_2$ S $_2$的低温电子态具有重费米子行为的许多特征，包括具有负热膨胀系数的重电子态（$m^*/m_e \sim$ 24）和低于$T_c$ = 0.46（2）K的超导性。在钾镍硫化物中，这些行为出现在没有局部磁性的情况下，而是出现在接近电荷顺序的地方。
We present the pressure-temperature phase diagram of the antiferromagnet CeAg$_2$Si$_2$ established via resistivity and calorimetry measurements under quasi-hydrostatic conditions up to 22.5~GPa. With increasing pressure, the Néel temperature [$T_{\mathrm{N}}(p=0)=8.6$~K] slowly increases up to $T_{\mathrm{N}}=13.4$~K at 9.4~GPa and then vanishes abruptly at the magnetic critical pressure $p_{\mathrm{c}}\sim13$~GPa. For the first time, heavy fermion superconductivity is observed in CeAg$_2$Si$_2$ . Superconductivity emerges at $\sim 11$~GPa and persists over roughly 10~GPa. Partial- and bulk-t…
