Anisotropic spin fluctuations and superconductivity in "115" heavy fermion compounds: ⁵⁹Co NMR study in PuCoGa₅

Phys Rev Lett. 2010 Nov 19;105(21):217002. doi: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.105.217002. Epub 2010 Nov 19.

Abstract

We report results of ⁵⁹Co nuclear magnetic resonance measurements on a single crystal of superconducting PuCoGa₅ in its normal state. The nuclear spin-lattice relaxation rates and the Knight shifts as a function of temperature reveal an anisotropy of spin fluctuations with finite wave vector q. By comparison with the isostructural members, we conclude that antiferromagnetic XY-type anisotropy of spin fluctuations plays an important role in mediating superconductivity in these heavy fermion materials.