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Published Online October 26, 2006
Science DOI: 10.1126/science.1133239

Research Articles

Submitted on July 31, 2006
Accepted on October 9, 2006

Dynamical Superconducting Order Parameter Domains in Sr2RuO4

Francoise Kidwingira 1, J. D. Strand 1, D. J. Van Harlingen 1*, Yoshiteru Maeno 2

1 Department of Physics, University of Illinois, Urbana, IL 61801, USA.
2 Department of Physics, Kyoto University, Kyoto 606-8502, Japan.

* To whom correspondence should be addressed.
D. J. Van Harlingen, E-mail: dvh{at}uiuc.edu

We present direct evidence for complex p-wave order parameter symmetry and the presence of dynamical chiral order parameter domains of the form px ± ipy in the ruthenate superconductor Sr2RuO4. The domain structure creates differences in the magnetic field modulation of the critical current of Josephson junctions fabricated on orthogonal faces of Sr2RuO4 single crystals. Transitions between the chiral states of a domain or the motion of domain walls separating them generates telegraph noise in the critical current as a function of magnetic field or time and is responsible for hysteresis observed in field sweeps of the critical current. The presence of such domains confirms the p-wave triplet spin and complex (broken time-reversal symmetry) nature of the superconducting pairing state in Sr2RuO4.




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Science. ISSN 0036-8075 (print), 1095-9203 (online)