Evidence for Spin Singlet Pairing with Strong Uniaxial Anisotropy in URu_{2}Si_{2} Using Nuclear Magnetic Resonance

Phys Rev Lett. 2018 Jan 12;120(2):027001. doi: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.120.027001.

Abstract

In order to identify the spin contribution to superconducting pairing compatible with the so-called "hidden order", ^{29}Si nuclear magnetic resonance measurements have been performed using a high-quality single crystal of URu_{2}Si_{2}. A clear reduction of the ^{29}Si Knight shift in the superconducting state has been observed under a magnetic field applied along the crystalline c axis, corresponding to the magnetic easy axis. These results provide direct evidence for the formation of spin-singlet Cooper pairs. Consequently, results indicating a very tiny change of the in-plane Knight shift reported previously demonstrate extreme uniaxial anisotropy for the spin susceptibility in the hidden order state.