H. Aubin et al., THERMAL-CONDUCTIVITY AS A PROBE OF UNCONVENTIONAL SUPERCONDUCTING GAP, Zeitschrift fur Physik. B, Condensed matter, 103(2), 1997, pp. 149-151
We have carried out a comparative study of the thermal conductivity of
two rectangular single crystals: a niobium sample and a detwinned YBC
O. Thermal conductivity was measured as a function of the relative ori
entation of the crystaline axes and a magnetic field applied parallel
to the sample plane. Different angular variations, two-fold for Nb and
four-fold for YBCO, were observed in the two case. We discuss the mic
roscopic effects related to the gap structure which are at the origin
of this qualitative difference in the behavior of thermal conductivity
in these two superconductors.