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Updated: Jul 5, 2026

Angle-resolved Photoemission Spectroscopy At Ultra-low Temperatures
Published on: October 9, 2012
Low-temperature specific heat of the heavy-fermion superconductor PrOs4Sb12
R Vollmer1, A Faisst, C Pfleiderer
1Physikalisches Institut, Universität Karlsruhe, Wolfgang-Gaede-Strasse 1, Germany.
Abstract:
We report the magnetic field dependence of the specific-heat C of single crystals of the first Pr-based heavy-fermion superconductor Pr(Os4Sb12. The variation of C at low temperature and the magnetic phase diagram inferred from C, the resistivity and magnetization provide compelling evidence of a doublet ground state. Two distinct superconducting anomalies in C indicate an unconventional superconducting state, where the splitting may arise from a weak lifting of the ground state degeneracy. In combination this identifies Pr(Os4Sb12 as a strong contender for quadrupolar pairing, i.e., superconductivity that is neither electron-phonon nor magnetically mediated.
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