Superconducting gap structure of kappa-(BEDT-TTF)2Cu(NCS)2 probed by thermal conductivity tensor

Phys Rev Lett. 2002 Jan 14;88(2):027002. doi: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.88.027002. Epub 2001 Dec 26.

Abstract

The thermal conductivity of organic superconductor kappa-(BEDT-TTF)2Cu(NCS)2 (Tc = 10.4 K) has been studied in a magnetic field rotating within the 2D superconducting planes with high alignment precision. At low temperatures ( T < or = 0.5 K), a clear fourfold symmetry in the angular variation, which is characteristic of a d-wave superconducting gap with nodes along the directions rotated 45 degrees relative to the b and c axes of the crystal, was resolved. The determined nodal structure is inconsistent with recent theoretical predictions of superconductivity induced by the antiferromagnetic spin fluctuation.