Abstract
We have performed a series of point-contact experiments, i.e. measurements of the voltage-dependent differential resistance, on single crystals of the heavy-fermion metal URu2Si2, which is both antiferromagnetic and superconducting, in the temperature range between 0.8 and 20 K. Our most important results are strong anomalies due to the antiferromagnetism belowT N =17 K. These anomalies appear to be composed of parts fitting into a selfheating model and other, possibly spectroscopic parts. A unique, i.e. either thermal or ballistic model thus seems to be inadequate for the description of these point-contacts. In the characteristics of high-ohmic contacts we find zero-bias maxima of a width comparable to the width of a charge- or spin-density wave gap found in specific heat measurements. For the superconducting state belowT c =1.3 K, our measurements indicate a zone of strongly suppressed superconductivity near the surface.
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Nowack, A., Naidyuk, Y.G., Chubov, P.N. et al. Point-contact study of the heavy-fermion system URu2Si2 . Z. Physik B - Condensed Matter 88, 295–301 (1992). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01470916
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01470916