Avoided valence transition in a plutonium superconductor

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
B J RamshawA Migliori

Abstract

The d and f electrons in correlated metals are often neither fully localized around their host nuclei nor fully itinerant. This localized/itinerant duality underlies the correlated electronic states of the high-Tc cuprate superconductors and the heavy-fermion intermetallics and is nowhere more apparent than in the 5f valence electrons of plutonium. Here, we report the full set of symmetry-resolved elastic moduli of PuCoGa5--the highest Tc superconductor of the heavy fermions (Tc = 18.5 K)--and find that the bulk modulus softens anomalously over a wide range in temperature above Tc. The elastic symmetry channel in which this softening occurs is characteristic of a valence instability--therefore, we identify the elastic softening with fluctuations of the plutonium 5f mixed-valence state. These valence fluctuations disappear when the superconducting gap opens at Tc, suggesting that electrons near the Fermi surface play an essential role in the mixed-valence physics of this system and that PuCoGa5 avoids a valence transition by entering the superconducting state. The lack of magnetism in PuCoGa5 has made it difficult to reconcile with most other heavy-fermion superconductors, where superconductivity is generally believed to be medi...Continue Reading

References

Jul 1, 1994·Physical Review. B, Condensed Matter·B KindlerB Lüthi
Nov 13, 2003·Physical Review Letters·J J JoyceO Eriksson
Nov 5, 2004·Physical Review Letters·E D BauerG R Stewart
Apr 1, 2005·Nature·N J CurroJ L Sarrao
Mar 21, 2008·Physical Review Letters·A HiessG H Lander
Jan 15, 2011·Physical Review Letters·Maria Elisabetta PezzoliGabriel Kotliar
Oct 25, 2011·Nature Materials·G N GreavesT Rouxel
Dec 24, 2011·Journal of Physics. Condensed Matter : an Institute of Physics Journal·E D BauerJ D Thompson
Jun 7, 2013·Nature·Arkady ShekhterAlbert Migliori

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Citations

Sep 21, 2016·Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America·Albert MiglioriJon B Betts
Oct 12, 2019·Science·Maja D BachmannPhilip J W Moll
Sep 30, 2018·Nature Communications·K A ModicPhilip J W Moll
Jan 3, 2020·The Review of Scientific Instruments·Fedor F BalakirevAlbert Migliori
Nov 6, 2021·Journal of Synchrotron Radiation·Roberto Caciuffo, Gerard H Lander

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