Heavy holes as a precursor to superconductivity in antiferromagnetic CeIn 3
Open Access
- 12 May 2009
- journal article
- research article
- Published by Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
- Vol. 106 (19), 7741-7744
- https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.0811859106
Abstract
Numerous phenomenological parallels have been drawn between f- and d- electron systems in an attempt to understand their display of unconventional superconductivity. The microscopics of how electrons evolve from participation in large moment antiferromagnetism to superconductivity in these systems, however, remains a mystery. Knowing the origin of Cooper paired electrons in momentum space is a crucial prerequisite for understanding the pairing mechanism. Of special interest are pressure-induced superconductors CeIn3 and CeRhIn5 in which disparate magnetic and superconducting orders apparently coexist—arising from within the same f-electron degrees of freedom. Here, we present ambient pressure quantum oscillation measurements on CeIn3 that crucially identify the electronic structure—potentially similar to high-temperature superconductors. Heavy hole pockets of f-character are revealed in CeIn3, undergoing an unexpected effective mass divergence well before the antiferromagnetic critical field. We thus uncover the softening of a branch of quasiparticle excitations located away from the traditional spin fluctuation-dominated antiferromagnetic quantum critical point. The observed Fermi surface of dispersive f-electrons in CeIn3 could potentially explain the emergence of Cooper pairs from within a strong moment antiferromagnet.Keywords
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