Abstract
Point-contact spectroscopy, via the mechanism of Andreev reflection between a normal metal and a superconductor, can be employed to obtain information about the superconductive energy gap. In the present work, point-contacts between the heavy-fermion superconductor UPt3 and Pt have been studied down to 36 mK and in magnetic fields up to 6 T. Andreev reflection is observed only in the low-field, low-temperature superconducting phase. The unusual temperature and magneticfield dependence together with the gap anisotropy give direct experimental evidence that the different superconductive phases in UPt3 have distinctly different order parameters.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
A. G. M. Jansen, A. P. van Gelder and P. Wyder,J. Phys. C 13, 6073 (1980).
B. Bussian, I. Frankowski and D. Wohlleben,Phys. Rev. Lett. 49, 1026 (1982).
G. E. Blonder, M. Tinkham and T. M. Klapwijk,Phys. Rev. B 25, 4515 (1982).
For a recent review, see: H. v. Löhneysen,Physica B to be published.
A. Nowack, A. Heinz, F. Oster, D. Wohlleben, G. Güntherodt, Z. Fisk and A. Menovsky,Phys. Rev. B 36, 2436 (1987).
G. Goll, H. v. Löhneysen, I. K. Yanson and L. Taillefer,Phys. Rev. Lett. 70, 2008 (1993).
T. Trappmann, H. v. Löhneysen and L. Taillefer,Phys. Rev. B 43, 13714 (1991).
A. I. Akimenko, A. B. Verkin, N. M. Ponomarenko and I. K. Yanson,Sov. J. Low Temp. Phys. 8, 130 (1982).
M. Sigrist and K. Ueda,Rev. Mod. Phys. 63, 239 (1991).
G. Goll, H. v. Löhneysen, I. K. Yanson and L. Taillefer,Physica B to be published.
S.-W. Lin, C. Jin, H. Zhang, J. B. Ketterson, D. M. Lee, D. G. Hinks, M. Levy and B. K. Sarma, to be published.
W. O. Putikka, P. J. Hirschfeld and P. Wölfle,Phys. Rev B 41, 7285 (1990).
J. A. Sauls, submitted toAdv. Phys.