Hidden Magnetism and Quantum Criticality in the Heavy Fermion Superconductor CeRhIn5

Details Hidden Magnetism and Quantum Criticality in the Heavy Fermion Superconductor CeRhIn5 Hidden Magnetism and Quantum Criticality in the Heavy Fermion Superconductor CeRhIn5

2006-03-03

arxiv.org/abs/cond-mat/0603090v2

Nature 440, 65 (2006)

Physics

Condensed Matter

Superconductivity

journal reference added

Scientific paper

10.1038/nature04571

With understood exceptions, conventional superconductivity does not coexist with long-range magnetic order[1]. In contrast, unconventional superconductivity develops near a boundary separating magnetically ordered and magnetically disordered phases[2,3]. A maximum in the superconducting transition temperature Tc develops where this boundary extrapolates to T=0 K, suggesting that fluctuations associated with this magnetic quantum-critical point are essential for unconventional superconductivity[4,5]. Invariably though, unconventional superconductivity hides the magnetic boundary when T < Tc, preventing proof of a magnetic quantum-critical point[5]. Here we report specific heat measurements of the pressure-tuned unconventional superconductor CeRhIn5 in which we find a line of quantum-phase transitions induced inside the superconducting state by an applied magnetic field. This quantum-critical line separates a phase of coexisting antiferromagnetism and superconductivity from a purely unconventional superconducting phase and terminates at a quantum tetracritical point where the magnetic field completely suppresses superconductivity. The T->0 K magnetic field-pressure phase diagram of CeRhIn5 is well described with a theoretical model[6,7] developed to explain field-induced magnetism in the high-Tc cuprates but in which a clear delineation of quantum-phase boundaries has not been possible. These experiments establish a common relationship among hidden magnetism, quantum criticality and unconventional superconductivity in cuprate and heavy-electron systems, such as CeRhIn5.

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