Magnetic-field-induced enhancements of nuclear spin-lattice relaxation rates in the heavy-fermion superconductor CeCoIn5 using 59Co nuclear magnetic resonance

Phys Rev Lett. 2011 Sep 23;107(13):137001. doi: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.107.137001. Epub 2011 Sep 19.

Abstract

(59)Co nuclear spin-lattice relaxation has been measured for the heavy-fermion superconductor CeCoIn(5) in a range of applied fields directed parallel to the c axis. An enhanced normal-state relaxation rate, observed at low temperatures and fields just above H(c2)(0), is taken as a direct measure of the dynamical susceptibility and provides microscopic evidence for an antiferromagnetic instability. The results are well described using the self-consistent renormalized theory for two-dimensional antiferromagnetic spin fluctuations, and parameters obtained in the analysis are applied to previously reported specific heat and thermal expansion data with good agreement.