Anomalous Properties in the Normal and Superconducting States of LaRu$_3$Si$_2$

Abstract

Superconductivity in LaRu$_3$Si$_2$ with the honeycomb structure of Ru atoms has been investigated. It is found that the normal state specific heat C/T exhibits a deviation from the Debye model down to the lowest temperature. A relation $C/T = γ_n+βT^2-ATlnT$ which concerns the electron correlations can fit the data very well. The suppression to the superconductivity by the magnetic field is not the mean-field like, which is associated well with the observation of strong superconducting fluctuations. The field dependence of the induced quasiparticle density of states measured by the low temperature specific heat shows a non-linear feature, indicating the significant contributions given by the delocalized quasiparticles.

5 pages, 5 figures