Complex Order Parameter Confirmed
Although strontium ruthenium oxide was discovered to be superconducting more than a decade ago, its pairing symmetry has remained widely investigated and controversial. Now, a team of researchers led by Dale Van Harlingen says the debate is over.
"We have pretty unambiguous evidence for 'p-wave' symmetry having a complex order parameter that breaks time-reversal symmetry in this ruthenate superconductor," said Van Harlingen.
Until now, this complex odd symmetry state had been predicted theoretically but never fully confirmed. Van Harlingen, graduate students Francoise Kidwingira and Joel Strand, and colleague Yoshiteru Maeno (Kyoto University) report their latest findings in the Nov. 24 issue of the journal Science.
The order parameter of a superconductor characterizes the nature of the interaction that forms Cooper pairs. It controls many of the superconductor's properties and provides a crucial clue to the microscopic mechanism responsible for the superconductivity. Read more...