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Phys. Rev. B 76, 214514 (2007) [8 pages]

Calculated positions of point nodes in the gap structure of the borocarbide superconductor YNi2B2C

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Yuki Nagai1,2,*, Yusuke Kato1,3, Nobuhiko Hayashi4,5, Kunihiko Yamauchi6, and Hisatomo Harima7
1Department of Physics, University of Tokyo, Tokyo 113-0033, Japan
2Condensed Matter Theory Laboratory, RIKEN, Saitama, 351-0198, Japan
3Department of Basic Science, University of Tokyo, Tokyo 153-8902, Japan
4CCSE, Japan Atomic Energy Agency, 6-9-3 Higashi-Ueno, Tokyo 110-0015, Japan
5CREST JST, 4-1-8 Honcho, Kawaguchi, Saitama 332-0012, Japan
6CNR-INFM, CASTI Regional Lab, I-67010 Coppito (L’Aqulia), Italy
7Department of Physics, Kobe University, Nada, Kobe 657-8501, Japan

Received 13 June 2007; revised 10 September 2007; published 28 December 2007

To determine the superconducting gap function of YNi2B2C, we calculate the local density of states around a single vortex core with the use of Eilenberger theory and the band structure calculated by local density approximation, assuming various gap structures with point nodes at different positions. We also calculate the angular-dependent heat capacity in the vortex state on the basis of the Doppler-shift method. Comparing our results with the scanning tunneling microscopy and spectroscopy experiment, the angular-dependent heat capacity and thermal conductivity, we propose the gap structure of YNi2B2C, which has the point nodes and gap minima along ⟨110⟩. Our gap structure is consistent with all results of angular-resolved experiments.

© 2007 The American Physical Society

URL:
http://link.aps.org/doi/10.1103/PhysRevB.76.214514
DOI:
10.1103/PhysRevB.76.214514
PACS:
74.25.Jb, 74.20.Rp, 74.20.Fg

*ynagai@Vortex.c.u-tokyo.ac.jp