Point-Contact Spectroscopy of the Heavy-Fermion Superconductor CeCoIn$_5$

W. K. Park, L. H. Greene, J. L. Sarrao, J. D. Thompson

Published 2004-09-03, updated 2004-11-16Version 2

The dynamic conductance of the heavy-fermion superconductor CeCoIn$_5$ is measured by point-contact spectroscopy as a function of temperature from 60 K down to 400 mK. The contact between the gold tip and the single-crystal is shown to be in the Sharvin limit with the enhanced sub-gap conductance arising from Andreev reflection. The zero-bias conductance data are best fit using the extended Blonder-Tinkham-Klapwijk model with a d-wave superconducting order parameter. A fit to the full conductance curve at 400 mK indicates strong coupling ($2\Delta(0)/k_\textrm{B}T_\textrm{c} = 4.6$) and quantifies the suppressed Andreev reflection signal, which is a signature of normal-metal/heavy-fermion superconductor junctions. Possibilites for theoretical modeling to account for the suppressed Andreev conductance are suggested.