Renormalization of thermal conductivity of disordered d-wave superconductors by impurity-induced local moments
arXiv:cond-mat/0607682 · doi:10.1016/j.physc.2007.03.364
Abstract
The low-temperature thermal conductivity κ_0/T of d-wave superconductors is generally thought to attain a "universal" value independent of disorder at sufficiently low temperatures, providing an important measure of the magnitude of the gap slope near its nodes. We discuss situations in which this inference can break down because of competing order, and quasiparticle localization. Specifically, we study an inhomogeneous BCS mean field model with electronic correlations included via a Hartree approximation for the Hubbard interaction, and show that the suppression of κ_0/T by localization effects can be strongly enhanced by magnetic moment formation around potential scatterers.
2 pages, 1 figure, submitted to M2S-HTSC VIII, Dresden 2006